The Catawba Riversweep, the largest one-day river cleanup in the southeast, will take place on October 7 with six cleanup locations in the Lake Hickory area. The community cleanup will run from 9 a.m. until 12 p.m.

Volunteers and organizations from 26 counties across North and South Carolina will convene at more than 50 locations across the basin for the one-day cleanup, which is led by the Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation. Locations in the Lake Hickory area include Lake Hickory Marina & Boat Rental, Wittenberg Access, Big O’s Landing, Geitner Park, Glenn Hilton Park, and Lake Hickory Scuba & Marina.

Each cleanup site is unique in size, volunteer needs (on land or water), and amenities. Registration and additional information can be found at catawbariversweep.org. The registration deadline is September 29.

Catawba Riverkeeper Executive Director John Searby said 1,400 volunteers removed more than 50,000 pounds of trash and recyclables from area waterways during the last Riversweep. The “Riversweep Tradition” began in 2002 with a group of volunteers on Lake Wylie. Since then, many volunteers and organizations have held their own community river sweeps.

The Catawba Riverkeeper is a non-profit organization that serves as a dedicated on-the-water advocate for the entire Catawba-Wateree River Basin. The Catawba-Wateree Water Management Group is an organization of water utilities from North and South Carolina that works in cooperation with Duke Energy, which is the presenting sponsor for the Catawba Riversweep event. They are charged with creating innovative water resource management strategies to extend the water supply and protect the ecological integrity of the Catawba-Wateree River Basin.