Every year Save the Bay identifies Bay Area trash hot spots – sites around the Bay that have high levels of trash. They release a report about these spots so you might have read about them in local newspapers. But this year, they’re going a step further. Anyone can vote for one of the five Bay Trash Hot Spots, and Save the Bay will organize volunteer clean ups at the winning site throughout 2012.
One of the five sites is Oakland’s Damon Slough. My initial reaction to seeing that was, huh, what’s a slough? And where is that? My second reaction was to vote for it because it’s in Oakland. Then, I did a little research.
A slough is a swamp or a creek, in this case one that drains into the Bay. If you’ve ever been to the Coliseum, you’ve certainly passed over Damon Slough, whether from BART or from the parking lot. Here’s an image from Google Maps:
As I’m sure you can imagine, trash from thousands of fans blows into Damon Slough consistently, which is why it often “earns” a spot on Save the Bay’s annual trash hot spots list. Here’s one image of this trash from Save the Bay’s blog:
Clearly, Damon Slough could use some love. And there’s an easy way to help. As of yesterday, Damon Slough was in second place in Save the Bay’s voting, just 14 votes behind Pulgas Creek:
1. Pulgas Creek in San Carlos – 216
2. Damon Slough in Oakland – 202
3. Guadalupe River in San Jose – 173
4. Mission Creek in San Francisco – 164
5. Baxter Creek in Richmond – 109
We can’t let San Carlos beat Oakland so please take 30 seconds and vote for Damon Slough. Damon Slough isn’t just worth voting for because it’s in Oakland. As I found out from Save the Bay, “Damon Slough and other creeks drain Oakland’s trash into a restored wetland, Arrowhead Marsh, home to native plants and endangered birds.”
Please vote for Damon Slough so that Save the Bay will adopt it next year. And if you want to spread the word, you can pass on this blog post or tweet about it using the #BTHS11 hashtag. Voting ends on October 14th so we should be able to catch up to Pulgas Creek and make sure Damon Slough is adopted!
Living in the O 
Damon Slough is in my backyard. My Adopt-a-Spot is Arroyo Viejo Creek in Arroyo Viejo Park, the same creek that runs by the zoo. As it travels down through Oakland, it meets up with Lions Creek, and the joined waters flow into Damon Marsh and Slough before entering the Estuary; trash builds up and constricts the flow, and the plastics and cigarette butts and styrofoam pollute the nesting areas of marsh birds and goes on to be ingested by ocean fish and becoming part of our food chain. The plastic is in our body tissues in minute amounts and in the Pacific in huge floating masses of trash.
So, yeah, voting for Damon Slough is a no-brainer. It needs all the help it can get. It was added to Oakland sites for this year’s Creek to Bay Day, and the total poundage of the city’s retrieved trash almost doubled from last year. And the trash collects all year round, and can be seen by visitors going to the airport, however briefly.
I’m voting, then posting this on Facebook for others to see. Hopefully, a group will form to be Friends of Damon Slough. Consider Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday in January for a day of service there.
The rains will have raised the water level then, so you can look stylish in rubber boots.
Hi my name is Kathy deRosas and I did an art intervention and video installation at Damon Slough. Please look at my website http://www.kathyderosas.com. I would like to work with you.
Kathy – thanks for your comment. I actually stumbled onto your website when initially researching this post and was very interested in your Damon Slough art installation.
Im not sure why the author of the post thinks that because a spot is in Oakland it is more worthy than if it is in San Carlos, but I am sure that Damon Slough is in much better shape than nearby Seminary Creek and the 54th Avenue Slough, which go past the Coliseum Flea Market and also drain to San Leandro Bay and can contribute to impacts at Arrowhead Marsh. Keep Oakland Beautiful did a Creek to Bay Day clean-up at Damon Slough in 2010 and at the channels I mention above in 2011, and the difference between the two sites is extreme. Plus City of Oakland staff have done a great job of getting the Coliseum to do more at Damon Slough. It’s fine if StB is trying to promote their great work at Arrowhead Marsh by listing Damon Slough, but the plastic is about a 1/2 mile to the north along Coliseum Way at these less visible channels.
Can we vote more than once?
My assumption is that only your first vote will count. But you can get many of your friends to vote. Thanks for spreading the word!