Creek Week is the largest watershed-wide clean-up in the state of Colorado. Creek Week volunteers clean up litter along a creek, trail, park or open space throughout the watershed from Palmer Lake to Pueblo, Falcon to Woodland Park. This weeklong event is a partnership with public, private and nonprofit community organizations throughout the Pikes Peak region. There were a total of 50 Clean the Creek events across the region.
UCCS joined the effort to clean up and preserve the beauty of our local waterways. The university hosted three clean-ups with over 75 participants. A group of 30 alumni, staff, faculty and students gathered for the public clean-up event. Volunteers pulled 65 bags of trash from UCCS’ adopted waterways during the Clean the Creek event.
The event was part of UCCS’ commitment to maintain the Templeton Gap Floodway, which flows next to the UCCS campus and eventually joins the Arkansas River.
UCCS adopted the Templeton Gap Floodway in 2010 through the city of Colorado Springs’ adopt-a-waterway cleanup program. According to research by Dave Havlick, professor of Geography and Environmental Studies, the floodway was built in 1949 after catastrophic flooding submerged 200 Colorado Springs city blocks, destroyed homes and city infrastructure and caused casualties in the waterway’s drainage area. Three times a year, the Office of Sustainability at UCCS invites volunteers to clear debris from this critical resource.
Those interested in volunteering for future cleanup events can learn more on the Office of Sustainability website.