Lake Ray Hubbard Cleanup Will Have To Wait After Rains
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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Is it just unsightly or a real safety problem? Debris is stacking up at Lake Ray Hubbard, and with more rain this week, the problem will only get worse.
It's actually hard to tell where the shoreline ends and where some piles of trash begin. The city of Dallas, which controls the lake, says most of the floating trash comes in from a nearby creek, and they'll have to wait a little longer before any large-scale cleanup can begin.
It won't solve the problem, but it's a start. A couple of days a week Rick Silvius spends a few hours picking up trash.
It's the one thing he can do to try to contain a growing problem.
"You look around, even the shoreline now there's trash everywhere, so it's going to be a bigger problem with more rain," said Silvius.
A weekend drowning drew attention to the problems of fishing lines and other underwater debris that can entangle swimmers.
The Dallas Water Utilities is in charge of the lake. A city spokesperson said the debris has not shown any sign of hurting water quality and with swimming prohibited, the problem is mostly aesthetic.
"It goes in the lake, and then it goes farther down. It's on the shorelines everywhere. It's just a mess," said Silvius
This time last year that mess grew out of control when massive amounts of floating debris along the outer ring of the lake could be seen. Dallas spent more than $300,000 on trash removal. Fishermen like Charles Berryhill said the trash is a constant problem.
"Shoes, buckets, bottles, plastic bottles like nobody's business," said Berryhill.
A city spokesperson said they plan to wait until the end of the spring rains and runoff before deciding what to do about future trash removal efforts. In the meantime, those who love the lake hope everyone will do their part to prevent making the problem worse.
"People just have to be more careful. I mean, pick up their trash after themselves. It's not that hard of a job," said Silvius.
A spokesperson for Dallas Water Utilities said they are hoping this year will not be as bad as last year. They do have agreements with surrounding cities to work together on cleanup efforts.
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