DAVENPORT, Iowa — Davenport is trying to clean litter out of its waterways. The city is one of just three in the nation selected to take part in the Marine Litter Project.
The community is invited to see the project in action Thursday, July 7 during the Party in the Park event at Marquette Park. The event will feature fun for the whole family, but this one is special because it will allow community members to learn more about the role they play in litter reduction and prevention.
"The pilot program will install trash capture devices on Duck Creek at Marquette Park, and in Goose and Silver creeks, as part of a larger project to reduce land-based sources of marine litter led by the trilateral organization Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) in partnership with the EPA ..." the City of Davenport said in a news release. "The CEC project aims to build public awareness about the flow of litter downstream to the ocean by deploying litter capture devices and collecting comparable litter data at three sites: local waterways here in Davenport, Sumidero Canyon National Park near Tuxtla Gutierrez in Mexico and Rideau Canal in Ottawa, Canada."
The project will work through the fall, collecting data from devices in Duck, Groose and Silver creeks. There will be citizen science activities, community conversations and workshops to raise awareness of land-based sources of litter. Those events will take place in 2023.
"As a pilot project and part of regional collaboration, the Waste Commission of Scott County, the Partners of Scott County Watersheds and the cities of Bettendorf, Moline and Rock Island will be following and supporting the project in various ways," the City of Davenport said in the release.