The Carolina Canoe Club (CCC) and the Haw River Assembly (HRA) have been removing trash all along the 22 miles of the Haw River for many years. Without their efforts, even more trash would be reaching Jordan Lake, making the work of volunteers for Clean Jordan Lake that much harder. CCC members participate each year in the annual HRA Clean-Up-A-Thon held in March. In the last event, for example, 20 members removed 68 bags of trash along with four tires, a folding chair, a cooler, part of a dog house and believe or not, a purple bowling ball!

A small but effective band of CCC members have also been conducting monthly cleanups since 1999. They tackle access areas at Chicken Bridge, US 15-501, US 64 and Robeson Creek on Jordan Lake. These cleanups are important because they keep in check those trouble spots where trash routinely accumulates. One of these is a small island just upstream of the Bynum dam.

Since 1991, Elaine Chiosso has served as the Executive Director of the HRA. She has rallied volunteers from all along the length of the Haw River for their annual Clean-Up-A-Thon. The tally at the HRA website shows that 3,887 volunteers have removed 7,286 bags of trash and 1,435 tires. This includes the work of over 300 Clean Jordan Lake volunteers along the shoreline who have removed about 1000 bags of trash and 500 tires since 2010.

Clean Jordan Lake is grateful to have the CCC and HRA as partners in our effort to restore natural beauty to the shoreline, reduce damage to natural habitats, improve water quality and increase the enjoyment of visitors.

CCC and HRA Keep Trash Out of Jordan Lake