About Us

The Sacramento Stormwater Quality Partnership (SSQP) is a multi-jurisdictional
program made up of Sacramento County and the incorporated cities of Sacramento,
Citrus Heights, Elk Grove, Folsom, Galt, and Rancho Cordova, educating and
encouraging the community to protect local waterways from the impacts of urban
run-off, which flows untreated from storm drains to creeks, streams and rivers.

What is Stormwater?

Stormwater is rain that flows over land or impervious surfaces, such as paved streets, parking lots, and building rooftops, and does not soak into the ground. In urban areas less rain is able to infiltrate into the ground, thus creating urban runoff and picking up pollutants along the way. Stormwater carries pollutants such as trash, pet waste, and garden chemicals into nearby storm drains, which eventually flows into waterways untreated. This harms the quality of our waterways.

Learn more

Ways to Protect Water

We need your help to protect our local waters!

Water pollution primarily comes from residents and you
are the most important solution to stormwater pollution.
Learn how you can help prevent stormwater pollution
and improve our community.

Take Action

Mercury

Mercury is very toxic to people and wildlife, and some of its uses have resulted in widespread contamination of the environment. Let’s work together to protect and enhance the quality of life in our neighborhoods and throughout the community for our enjoyment now…and for our children’s enjoyment in the future.

Stop pollution at the source:

Learn more

Pesticides

Using less or non-toxic alternatives in your garden is important for a healthy garden, the beneficial bugs, our waterways, and our ecosystem. Let’s work together to protect and enhance the quality of life in our neighborhoods and throughout the community for our enjoyment now…and for our children’s enjoyment in the future.

Stop pollution at the source:

Learn more

Pet Waste

When pet waste is improperly disposed of, it can be picked up by stormwater runoff and washed into storm drains then directly to the river without being treated. Let’s work together to protect and enhance the quality of life in our neighborhoods and throughout the community for our enjoyment now…and for our children’s enjoyment in the future.

Stop pollution at the source:

Learn more

Trash

Litter from sidewalks, streets, parking lots, and nature areas eventually find its way into our rivers. Let’s work together to protect and enhance the quality of life in our neighborhoods and throughout the community for our enjoyment now…and for our children’s enjoyment in the future.

Stop pollution at the source:

Learn more

Mercury

Pesticides

Pet Waste

Trash

Events Calendar

< December

< 2023 >

January

February >

Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
1	2	3	4	5	6 Sacramento Picks It Up! – American River Sacramento Picks It Up! – American River 09:00 -12:00 01/06/2023 Location: Howe Ave Access to the American River Time: 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. Difficulty Level: 2 – 3 Event Name: Howe Avenue Access River Cleanup Howe Ave is one of the trashiest areas of the American River Parkway. Let’s clean it up. We have cleaned up the Woodlake area, we can do it here. It already looks a lot better than it did when we were last year thanks to river steward and SPIU member Michael Tscheu. He works hard cleaning miles on both sides of the river. We will meet at the river access parking lot. We will have free parking passes for all volunteers. We have coordinated with Sac Co Regional Parks on several abandoned camps. There is plenty of easy trash pickup while enjoying the river. We will provide bags, but please bring along your sturdy footwear, long sleeves and pants are recommended, grabbers, buckets and gloves – a limited number of loaner buckets and grabbers may be available.	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20 Sacramento Picks it Up – Off Broadway Trash Dash Sacramento Picks it Up – Off Broadway Trash Dash 16:00 -17:00 01/20/2023 Location: Nearest address is 2331 Broadway (the McDonald’s), people can park on the street. Time: 4 – 5 p.m. Event Name: Off Broadway Trash Dash Please join us to clean up this alley! I have a student who I drop off each day at this location. The alley is always super trashy. I have seen kittens crawling around in the trash, where there are sharps present. I have also seen birds eating from the piles, including a Cooper’s Hawk searching for mice. This is a level one clean-up but there will most likely be sharps present. Bring thick gloves, grabbers etc. and we will supply bags and call 311 for pick up. There is parking on 23rd and 24th and the alley is behind the McDonald’s drive through. See you there.	21 Sacramento Picks it Up – Pinkerton/W. Stockton Levee Sacramento Picks it Up – Pinkerton/W. Stockton Levee 09:00 -10:00 01/21/2023 Location: 8906 West Stockton Blvd. (Elizabeth Pinkerton Park) Time: 9 – 10:15 a.m. Event Name: Pinkerton/W. Stockton Levee Let’s get after an area West of Highway 99 by Laguna Creek and Pinkerton Park. This spot has all levels, from flat streets and sidewalks, to hilly and muddy (bring your rubber boots) kind of terrain. New to cleanups? Please arrive early to get signed in and get gear. If you have supplies, please bring your own gloves, buckets, bags, but we have items for you. Buckets, gloves, grabbers, vests, bags. Please wear appropriate clothing, boots or closed-toe shoes, sunscreen, hats, and bring your own water. All cleanups are done at your own risk, but safety first! Our trash safety talk starts promptly at 9:00 am. Sacramento Picks it Up – McKinley Park Trash Dash Sacramento Picks it Up – McKinley Park Trash Dash 10:00 -12:00 01/21/2023 Location: 670 Alhambra Blvd. Time: 10 a.m. Difficulty Level: 2 – 5 Come out for our monthly Trash Dash at McKinley Park. This is a very family friendly event, and also a great opportunity for any local students to get community service credits. We’ll have Parks donated trash grabbers and garbage bags, and a dumpster to fill up. Come out, meet some new friends and make our park shiny
22 Sacramento Picks it Up – Del Paso Heights Sacramento Picks it Up – Del Paso Heights 14:00 -17:00 01/22/2023 Location: 2589 Beaumont Street Time: 2 – 5 p.m. Event Name: Del Paso Heights Volunteers will be tackling a large pile of trash from a number of sources in the Del Paso Heights area. This large pile of trash needs a lot of volunteers to come make this part of Sacramento look beautiful once more and stop this trash from washing down our streets into the rivers and eventually the ocean.	23	24	25	26	27 Sacramento Picks it Up – Friday Morning Arcade Creek Clean-Up Sacramento Picks it Up – Friday Morning Arcade Creek Clean-Up 09:00 -11:00 01/27/2023 Location: Arcade Creek Park at the Omni Drive entrance (5613 Omni Drive) Time: 9:30 a.m. Difficulty Level: 2 – 5 Event Name: Friday morning Arcade Creek clean-up This Friday the meeting place for the bi-weekly Arcade Creek clean-up is the Arcade Creek Park on Omni Drive, because we have been working in this part of the creek lately. We get into Arcade Creek and sometimes haul out heavy items, so bring boots/waders and gloves. There are also areas around the creek that need attention, so if you don’t want to get wet, that’s ok. The difficulty level of this clean up is a 2-5, depending on the terrain people choose to work in.	28 Sacramento Picks it Up – Clean up Elk Grove Blvd Sacramento Picks it Up – Clean up Elk Grove Blvd 09:00 -11:00 01/28/2023 Location: 4900 Elk Grove Blvd Time: 9 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. Event Name: Clean up Elk Grove Blvd Looks like good weather for our Saturday morning cleanup! We hope to get a bunch of trash off Franklin and EG Blvd as well as Ehrhardt Creek area. Park at the Raley’s center on the west side and look for our orange cones. New to cleanups? Please arrive early to get signed in and get gear. If you have supplies, please bring your own gloves, buckets, bags, but we have items for you. Buckets, gloves, grabbers, vests, bags. Please wear appropriate clothing, boots or closed-toe shoes, sunscreen, hats, and bring your own water. All cleanups are done at your own risk, but safety first! Our trash safety talk starts promptly at 9:00 am. See you soon. Sacramento Picks It Up! – Dixieanne Ave Sacramento Picks It Up! – Dixieanne Ave 09:00 -12:00 01/28/2023 Location: 950 Dixieanne Ave Time: 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. Difficulty Level: 1 – 2 Event Name: Dixieanne Alleys Clean Up Part 2 Join SPIU volunteers and residents of the Dixieanne Neighborhood near Del Paso Boulevard for a level 1-2 cleanup on Saturday, Jan. 28 from 9 am -12 pm! This cleanup is part of the City of Sacramento sponsored “Dixieanne Neighborhood Clean & Green Alleys”, a project to clean and beautify at least 3,000 linear feet of public right-of-way on any of 23 residential alleys in the community of Old North Sacramento. Beyond encouraging residents and neighbors with the additional help of SPIU volunteers to clean the area, the project will also provide fencing repairs, shade trees, and public art in order to enhance the neighborhood and to encourage community gathering and active transportation.
29 Sacramento Picks it Up – Mather Vernal Pools Trash Dash Sacramento Picks it Up – Mather Vernal Pools Trash Dash 09:00 -12:00 01/29/2023 Location: South of Mather Field Lake Regional Park Time: 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Difficulty Level: 1 – 2 Event Name: Mather Vernal Pools Trash Dash Join SPIU yet again at the Mather Vernal Pools to clean up trash and create County 311 reports for any illegally dumped piles we find! Sacramento Splash, (sacsplash.org) is starting their seasonal tours during this wet phase of the fragile vernal pool ecosystem with trash in and near the pools. Sacramento Picks It Up aims to help clean, protect and preserve these fragile pools. The school kids on Sac Splash’s tours deserve to experience a trash-free environment while learning about this natural area! Because they are located in a less developed area in Rancho Cordova, Zinfandel Drive and the dirt road where we will meet for the clean up is ripe for illegal dumping as well as wind blown trash and litter from partiers. Bring: gloves and grabbers and buckets if you have them. All bags are provided by Sacramento County Regional Parks, as well as the pick up of our piles! Directions and parking: The vernal pools are at the end of Zinfandel arrive off of HWY 50 where Zinfandel turns into a dirt/gravel road! Enter Mather Field Lake Regional Park into your GPS, however this is NOT the location of the cleanup KEEP DRIVING down Zinfadel Drive until it turns into that dirt road. This is where we will park, have our pre-cleanup chat and disperse to pick up trash! There is plenty of parking, and no fee. This is a level 1-2 cleanup, and some areas may be muddy. Rubber boots may help, only in certain areas. As always, volunteer activities are performed at your own risk. Waivers are required unless already on file with SPIU, we will have them available! Free SPIU bumper sticker for your car or bucket for anyone who attends. Sacramento Picks it Up – Woodlake Clean-Up Sacramento Picks it Up – Woodlake Clean-Up 14:00 -16:00 01/29/2023 Location: 1767 Tribute Road Time: 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. Difficulty Level: 1 – 3 Event Name: Woodlake Clean-Up Please join us and students from CKMcClatchy to clean up the beautiful Woodlake area on the American River Parkway. Since the floods, campers there were forced to evacuate in a hurry. There is a lot of trash there at this now abandoned encampment that needs a quick clean up before it ends up in the water. Some of the terrain is hilly and a bit slippery. But there is also trash on flat land that needs picking. Also, there are sharps out there that we are prepared to safely pick up and dispose of at the proper facility. We will begin the pick up with a safety meeting. Please bring grabbers and gloves if you got ’em. If not we will have a few extras as well as bags. Wear shoes with a good grip if you can. As we pick up, enjoy each other’s company, and view the diverse nature out there while helping it back to the natural beauty it should be. You can park in the parking lot there in front of the levee. It’s to the right when you get to the end of the road right in front of the levee.	30	31	February	February	February	February

Pet waste is a significant, yet preventable, water pollutant. Please clean up after your pet!

Not all bugs are bad! Learn how
good bugs can defend your home
against pests

About Us

What is Stormwater?

Ways to Protect Water

Mercury

Pesticides

Pet Waste

Trash

Mercury

Pesticides

Pet Waste

Trash

Events Calendar

Sacramento Picks It Up! – American River

Sacramento Picks it Up – Off Broadway Trash Dash

Sacramento Picks it Up – Pinkerton/W. Stockton Levee

Sacramento Picks it Up – McKinley Park Trash Dash

Sacramento Picks it Up – Del Paso Heights

Sacramento Picks it Up – Friday Morning Arcade Creek Clean-Up

Sacramento Picks it Up – Clean up Elk Grove Blvd

Sacramento Picks It Up! – Dixieanne Ave

Sacramento Picks it Up – Mather Vernal Pools Trash Dash

Sacramento Picks it Up – Woodlake Clean-Up

For More Information

Contact the Sacramento Stormwater Quality Partnership at

About Us

What is Stormwater?

Ways to Protect Water

Mercury

Pesticides

Pet Waste

Trash

Mercury

Pesticides

Pet Waste

Trash

Events Calendar

Landscape and Nursery Expo

For More Information

Contact the Sacramento Stormwater Quality Partnership at