On September 19, 2026, SYRCL invites the community to show up for the 29th Annual Yuba River Cleanup. 

The event runs from 9:00 AM to noon, spanning the entire Yuba River watershed from the Sierra Nevada headwaters to the lower Yuba. Registration is free and open to all. After the Cleanup, all volunteers are invited to a free appreciation meal and community celebration at Condon Park in Grass Valley beginning at noon. 

“There is something powerful about hundreds of people coming together to care for a place they love,” said Dr. Aaron Zettler-Mann, Executive Director of the South Yuba River Citizens League. “This year, as we celebrate 25 years of Wild & Scenic designation for the South Yuba River, the Cleanup is a reminder that civic engagement does not have to be complicated. Showing up on September 19, filling a bag, walking a riverbank, spending a morning with your community, is an act of stewardship whose reach extends from the Sierra Nevada all the way to the Pacific Ocean.” 

Picking up a plastic bottle on the banks of the Yuba River has consequences that travel far beyond Nevada County. Trash left on the Yuba’s banks can be carried by storm water and seasonal flows downstream through the watershed and into the Sacramento River, where it may ultimately contribute to marine debris in the Pacific Ocean. This year’s cleanup takes place as part of California Coastal Cleanup Day, the state’s largest annual volunteer event coordinating stewardship efforts from mountain watersheds to the Pacific coast — a recognition that what happens here, on this river, is connected to everything downstream. 

The need has never been more visible. This summer, SYRCL’s River Ambassadors are reporting some of the largest crowds in recent years at popular crossings. SYRCL volunteers have already been out there responding. On June 7th, 16 volunteers removed trash from the Oregon Creek Recreation Area, chasing everything from tiny plastic wrappers to a giant deflated raft and collecting approximately 50 pounds of waste. On July 12th, 16 more volunteers spent under two hours at Bridgeport and removed over 160 pounds of trash — food containers, cups, clothing, float tubes, toys, plastic bottles, diapers, cigarette butts, and more. Two mini cleanups. Thirty-two volunteers. More than 210 pounds of waste pulled out of the watershed. 

At last year’s Cleanup, 657 volunteers removed over 8,000 pounds of trash and recycling, including thousands of pieces of micro-trash, from 25 sites throughout the watershed. The 29th Annual Yuba River Cleanup invites that community to build on that momentum, one piece of trash at a time. 

Photos from SYRCL’s 2025 Cleanup by Trenton Branson

The amount of trash we remove from this watershed every September is a testament to how much a single community can accomplish when it decides to do it together. The Yuba River has always been at its best when the people who love it show up for it. In 1983, ordinary people who loved the South Yuba River organized, advocated, and refused to let it be dammed. That act of community ultimately secured State Wild & Scenic designation for 39 miles of the river, one of the most significant grassroots conservation victories in California history. For 28 consecutive years they have shown up to clean it. This community understands that a healthy river does not happen on its own. It is the cumulative result of people who refuse to look away. September 19th is the day we look the problem in the eye, pick it up, and carry it out together. 

Event Details:  

• Date: Saturday, September 19, 2026  
• Cleanup: 9:00 AM – Noon  
• Appreciation Party: Noon, Condon Park, Grass Valley