Del Rio Earth Day cleanup, family activities bring volunteers to San Felipe Creek

Before the rock painting and canvas tables opened at Romanelli Park, volunteers were already along the banks of city-owned land on San Felipe Creek, picking up trash and turning Del Rio’s Earth Day observance into a practical cleanup of one of the city’s most visible waterways.

The City of Del Rio had moved the celebration to Saturday, April 25, after originally scheduling it for April 11 and then changing course because of severe-weather concerns. The event ran from 9 a.m. to noon at Lt. Thomas Romanelli Memorial Park, 301 Stanley St., and the city kept the family-oriented setup it had promised, with rock painting, canvas painting, a planting area, food vendors and music.

Inside the park, city departments used the day to connect environmental messaging with everyday services. The City of Del Rio Natural Gas Department handed out notebooks and pens made from recycled materials, along with kites, glider kits, potted calla lilies and barbecue-giveaway prizes. WIC and transportation staff set up information tables, and Transportation Superintendent Rosy Cruz walked residents through bus routes, client applications, passenger handbooks and how to use local public transit. Children also took home small wooden birdhouses, and some of those houses will be installed in city parks to help cavity-nesting birds such as wrens.

The event also showed how closely Del Rio ties creek stewardship to public services. San Felipe Creek is spring-fed, begins at San Felipe Springs and has long been described as the city’s sole source of drinking water, serving Del Rio and Laughlin Air Force Base. The city has also secured $17 million in state funding for water infrastructure work, including rehabilitation of the San Felipe East Springs Containment Wall and expansion of the Water Treatment Plant, making creek protection more than a seasonal cleanup project.

That broader stakes are not lost on residents. Earlier in April, photos of trash along San Felipe Creek prompted one local resident to press city officials and state environmental agencies for cleanup action. Del Rio has used Earth Day before to blend family activities and civic outreach, including a 2023 event at the Del Rio Civic Center with birdhouse-building, miniature goats and a robotics exhibit. This year, with Esme Esparza, Jorge Garza and Monica Hernandez among the staff helping on site, the city again used Earth Day to show that the condition of the creek, the parks and the water supply are tied together long after the celebration ends.