Volunteer Coalition Revives San Jose Waterways

SAN JOSE (KPIX 5) Steve Holmes picked his way across Los Gatos Creek, wearing waders to keep dry. On the far bank, he used a long-handled grabber to pick trash from the waterside plants and drop them quickly into a trash bag he carried in the other hand. It's a routine he carries out once a month.

"What we had was pretty much a dead river," he explained later.

This semi-retired fisherman-turned-environmentalist was inspired three years ago, when he discovered a Chinook salmon in the creek, struggling to make it upstream to spawn.

"(It was) trying to go over a cement barrier unsuccessfully," he remembered. "It really tugged at my heart."

The experience inspired Holmes to create the non-profit South Bay Clean Creeks Coalition, because what he called a "dead river" turned out to be a man-made problem.

"We had probably eight major encampments along Los Gatos Creek," he explained. "We had 225 people that were living in close proximity to the waterway."

And with the people, came trash, tons of it. Some had been there a long time.

The Coalition relies on volunteers like Carol and George Szymkiewicz.

"The fish are coming back, the beaver are coming back, the whole eco-cycle is coming alive again because we're taking trash out," Carol Szymkiewicz said excitedly.

"The fruits of the work you can see in the creek right here," her husband George added. "It's nice clean, clear water going into the bay."

There are now more than 500 active volunteers working with Holmes. The operation expanded from Los Gatos Creek to include a clean-up of the Guadalupe River that runs through downtown San Jose.

And the trash collected has become a visual message: they make artwork from batteries, syringes, and car parts.

Holmes said, "We joke that through all the cleanups we've done we actually could cobble together an automobile!"

Even old shopping carts are fashioned into fish.

"There's been a lot of highs. There's been a lot of lows, but I think the net is that we've moved a waterway from a complete mess to something that is starting to look like it's healing," he added.

So for helping restore the natural habitat and beauty of creeks and rivers in the South Bay, this week's Jefferson Award in the Bay Area goes to Steve Holmes.

To volunteer, use this link.