Volunteers Look To Transform Tuolumne River Shore

MODESTO (CBS13) – The Tuolumne River has a lot of trash along the water's edge, but a group of volunteers is determined to transform the riverfront.

"We used to go down there to swim," said Jaime Munson about how the riverfront use to look.

Piles of trash and people living off the Tuolumne River have made residents, and even some homeless people like Munson, now avoid the area.

"The garbage, people leaving messes, drug addicts, alcoholics," Munson said.

It's a place that could be amazing.

"This is a pristine area that could be a spot for biking, hiking, and kayaking," said volunteer Chris Guptill.

But instead, trash clogs the view. That's why Guptill decided to take action.

"I found there really isn't group taking an interest in it, so it's been pretty badly abused and neglected," Guptill said.

After kayaking this stretch of the river, everywhere he looked Guptill saw a problem.

"I noticed there was garbage and debris and shopping carts and tires were in the river and on the river's edge," Guptill said.

After sharing pictures, other people wanted to help, too.

"Amazed that there could be that much trash, that things could be that bad," Guptill said.

Now close to 100 volunteers meet up to clean.

"Our goal is to transform this area from a place that's full of garbage to a clean area and then transform to a recreation area," Guptill said.

However, the trash is a problem Munson says won't go away because the homeless will continue to camp there.

"They're just going to come back. It's a never ending process," Munson said.