Figure 1 - Meeker Slough at low tide


Figure 2 - Trash in Meeker Slough


Figure 3 - Trash in Meeker Slough

There are a lot of emails and NextDoor posts going around complaining about the trash in Meeker Slough. Meeker Slough runs between the east side of Marina Bay and the west side of the U.C. Berkeley Field Station. It is what remains of a historic sprawling wetland and mudflat in south Richmond after being constrained by over 100 years of urban development. It is subject to tidal action, meaning that water comes into the slough from San Francisco Bay. Water also feeds into Meeker Slough from the Richmond storm drain system and a concrete channel that runs along the west side of the U.C. Berkeley Field Station.

Figure 4 - Map showing ownership of Meeker Slough


Figure 5 - Map from Contra Costa County Assessor showing property ownership along Meeker Slough

Responsibility for cleaning up trash in Meeker Slough is complicated. The channel passes through property owned by the City of Richmond, the East Bay Regional Parks District and U.C. Berkeley. The upper reaches of it pass through or border another dozen or so parcels of privately-owned property. Of the trash that accumulates in the channel, some washes in from San Francisco Bay through tidal action, some is dumped directly into the slough from adjoining properties, and some washes down through the storm sewer system, mostly from Richmond streets.

It appears that past cleanups have been done mostly by volunteers, including UC Berkeley students, the Watershed Project, Groundwork Richmond, Marina Bay residents and others. I have helped clean up Meeker Slough several times on Coastal Cleanup days over the past few years.

The time has come for the three primary property owners, the City of Richmond, the East Bay Regional Parks District and U.C. Berkeley to devise a long term plan to maintain this area. Relying on volunteers with no one really taking charge is not working.

Councilmember Gayle McLaughlin has been active in relaying email complaints to City of Richmond managers, but that doesn’t address the multi-jurisdictional nature of this challenge. Gayle’s political colleagues from the Richmond Progressive Alliance (RPA) have to take some responsibility for the condition of Meeker Slough. It was the RPA City Council members who shut down Richmond’s once-robust street sweeping program, the main purpose of which is to eliminate trash from streets washing into San Francisco Bay, including Meeker Slough.

It should also be noted that the large amount of money, well over $100,000, that the RPA City Council members are authorizing to investigate and litigate against me could have been put to better use cleaning up Meeker Slough. This is a good indication of what the RPA priorities are.

Since no one else seems to be taking charge, the Mayor’s Office will convene a Zoom meeting among landowners as soon as possible to try and facilitate a plan to clean up Meeker Slough and keep it cleaned up.