29th annual Lake Travis Cleanup brings hundreds of volunteers

29th annual Lake Travis Cleanup

Volunteers gathered at Lake Travis Sunday for the annual lake clean up event. The cleanup has been happening for nearly 30 years.

AUSTIN, Texas - Every year, volunteers gather at Lake Travis to keep Austin beautiful.

"This is the 29th anniversary of the Lake Travis Cleanup. We have 600 volunteers out today, not only on the shoreline, but out in the water doing dive," said Christine Herlin, development director at Colorado River Alliance.

The volunteers removed hundreds of pounds of trash out of the water we consume.

"Lake Travis and Lake Austin is a really beautiful part of our city, but it's also our drinking water. So, keeping it clean, coming out to volunteer is really important so that we can, you know, keep healthy and keep safe," Herlin said.

Those who were along the shoreline were able to pick up bags full of trash.

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"Majority of items have been pretty lame items like bottle caps and bottle tabs and things that we know need to be disposed of," said civil engineer Chandler Crouch.

Divers found a drone while cleaning up the lake. The diver who found it said, hopefully, he can salvage the footage and return the drone to its owner.

Decreasing lake levels have given volunteers more work.

"We've needed a little bit more manpower this week, but it has given us an opportunity to collect garbage and trash that's been underwater for a long time," Crouch said. "So, we've actually seen some older items being pulled out today."

For those who are interested in taking part in next year's cleanup, you can get involved by going to coloradoriver.org.

"There's lots of ways to volunteer, and we'll be having the Lake Travis clean up again in 2024 for the 30th anniversary," Herlin said. "We'd love to see you here."