The annual Lake Travis Cleanup resulted in tons of garbage being pulled from the bottom of Lake Travis and from Travis County parks around the lake. As Texas’ largest scuba diving and shoreline cleanup, the community-wide event of more than two decades draws many area dive and shoreline volunteers who collect an average of five tons of trash each year.
According to KXAN, eight dive groups participated in this year’s event, including Lake Travis Scuba, which pulled in 12 bags of trash from its seven divers. In addition to the trash bags of garbage, they also retrieved a white-wall tire and a large steering or power cable for a large boat. The group, which retrieves trash year-round from the lake, keeps a running list, or Treasure Chest, of the items it has collected over the years. The most common item found is sunglasses, but they’ve also found anchors, cell phones, jewelry, goggles, money, and more. KXAN reported the group hauled in about 216 bags of trash this summer, in order to minimize the trash that needs to be collected during the one-day volunteer event.
Since the event’s inception, more than 108 tons of trash has been removed from the Lake Travis lake bottom and shoreline, with the help of over 18,000 community volunteers.
All ages are invited to help at the annual event, which is usually held in September and is a partnership with Travis County Parks, Colorado River Alliance, and Keep Austin Beautiful. The event is followed by a party for volunteers.