Lawrence cleanup project targets trash before it reaches Kansas River

Friends of the Kaw launched a Lawrence cleanup project Thursday that sends volunteers into their own neighborhoods instead of straight to the Kansas River. The Lawrence Watershed Cleanup Project is built around a simple idea: trash left on sidewalks, in yards or near storm drains can wash into tributaries after a windy day or rainstorm and eventually reach the river.

Kim Bellemere, the organization’s director of programming and outreach, said the effort is designed to stop that chain before it starts. “The goal is to catch the trash before it gets there,” Bellemere said.

The project is funded by the City of Lawrence’s stormwater management program, tying the cleanup directly to drainage and water-quality concerns in town. Volunteers do not need to gather their own equipment. Each kit includes a watershed map, safety information, educational materials, gloves, trash bags, hand sanitizer, snacks and a bucket, giving neighborhood groups a ready-made way to clean blocks, alleys and storm-drain areas.

Friends of the Kaw is asking participants to complete their cleanups and report back by Aug. 16. Organizers also want photos and notes about what volunteers find, a detail that turns the effort into more than a one-day litter pickup and gives the group a record of where trash is collecting in Lawrence.

The stakes are larger than curb appeal. The Kansas River watershed covers 61,000 square miles, and the river is one of the two sources of drinking water for Lawrence. That means trash on a street in a Lawrence neighborhood can become part of a much bigger system once it moves through drains, creeks and tributaries.

For Douglass County residents who use Lawrence streets, parks and storm drains every day, the project offers a direct way to reduce what reaches the water downstream. The cleanup links neighborhood conditions to the city’s water supply and gives residents a concrete task with a deadline, a kit and a specific goal: keep litter out of the Kansas River before it becomes a larger cleanup cost later.