About fifteen volunteers gathered on Friday morning at Mills River to clean up the river.

They met, with their kayaks, outside Valley AG, near Boylston Highway.

The group prepared and loaded their kayaks with trash bags before heading down the river in search of trash.

“Any trash we can find, we’ll take it out today,” said Maria Wise, executive director of the Mills River Partnership.

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The Mills River Partnership is leading the cleanup effort on Friday, October 15, 2021. They host a variety of activities throughout the year aimed at keeping Mills River water clean for those who drink it and the species that live there.

According to Wise, the river is a vital source of drinking water for the region, so it’s important to keep it clean.

After recent storms, like Tropical Storm Fred, she says a lot of extra garbage has accumulated in the water and it has become quite dirty.

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“The storm brought a lot of sediment into the river and a lot of our projects are aimed at preventing erosion, and some have been quite successful, but this storm brought a lot of extra garbage into the river, so we’re hoping to clean that up today. hui. “Wise told News 13.

After settling in Valley AG, the group traveled along the water to Westfeldt Park, which is actually on French Broad. They had planned to clean up parts of both rivers during their trip.

In total, the trip took about four hours on Friday.

If you want to volunteer with the group in the future, Wise says to just get in touch with them.

To contact us, email [email protected] or visit www.millsriverwater.org.