Spring Cleaning at Forester Creek

A crew of about a dozen workers, including Public Services Manager Bob Stein, (shown here), removed more than 15 cubic yards of trash and debris from Forester Creek Thursday.

Santee routinely cleans the concrete-lined channel to protect water quality in the San Diego River, which receives the flow from the tributary creek.

“We try to clean out the channel after every storm with city crews, volunteers and our contractors,” Stein said.

Most of the trash, which includes tons of plastics, is transported by rain into storm drains in the city of El Cajon and gets flushed downstream to Santee, Stein explained.

Santee’s stream cleaning effort is necessary to fulfill requirements of its state stormwater discharge permit, which is aimed at enforcing the federal Clean Water Act.

"To promote better water quality in the San Diego River, we regularly clear out drain pipes, clean drainage channels and hire a contractor to perform street sweeping," Stein said.