Dive Into Action: Striving for Clean Waters
THE MISSION
Waterways, including channels, drains, creeks, and navigable bodies of water, are vital to society as they provide drinking water, irrigation, and flood control. Before going through water treatment facilities and public water systems and ending up in your home, water flows directly from local waterways. Therefore, every community should have access to sustainable, clean water resources to create healthy households. Waterways also empty into larger bodies of water like oceans and seas. Trash-infested, contaminated waters destroy marine life habitats. Non-profit organizations target these issues like The Orange County Coastkeeper, which aims to "protect swimmable, drinkable, fishable water and promote watershed resilience throughout our region," working to achieve accessible and sustainable fresh- and saltwater ecosystems.
OUR EXPERIENCE
The Santa Ana Delhi channel is between Upper Newport Bay and Costa Mesa, draining directly into Back Bay and the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately, large amounts of trash contaminate the channel and Orange County's clean water resources. To combat this problem, The Giver's Guide joined the OC Coastkeeper for a channel cleanup.
After arriving at the Santa Ana channel, we were welcomed by the OCC's staff and twenty other volunteers. We were each assigned equipment: gloves, boots, trash pickers, and garbage bags, as we were ready to tread through algae-covered waters. All the volunteers quickly got to work picking up golf balls, trash bags, cigarette packages, clothing, and electronics, just some examples of the waste that pollutes the channel. We also encountered heavy plastic tarps teeming with insects floating rapidly down the channel as we quickly removed them with other volunteers. As our three hours ended, we had cleaned out a significant section of the Santa Ana channel, and everyone warmly congratulated each other.
The OC Coastkeeper holds a variety of volunteer opportunities for people interested in restoring marine habitats and water quality. Founded in 1999, The OCC was influenced by the efforts of the Hudson Riverkeepers, which restored the Hudson River to its natural state. Since Orange County rests on the beautiful West Coast, The OCC aims to keep our beaches clean and the fish safe to eat. Volunteers can join their ongoing beach cleanups thrice monthly in Huntington Beach and San Clemente or attend educational programs like WHALE. People can also support the restoration of eelgrass and Olympia oysters, which restore our habitats by filtering three gallons of water daily. They also offer internships to high school students, such as the Environmental Litigation and Advocacy Internship, which enables the experience of being environmental "lawyers." The OCC also advocates for climate change, offshore drilling, and desalination while researching humans' effects on endangered habitats.
Helping the Orange County Coastkeeper with their noble mission was a rewarding experience in which we discovered how deep the problems with how our waterways run are. Water quality and striving for clean water is a worldwide problem being addressed today.
"There's still a lot to do, but things are looking up!" says Michaela Coats, the director of education.