"We depend on this": Volunteers clean up Henderson Creek Canal in Collier County

A group of volunteers is cleaning up one of Collier County's most critical canals: Henderson Creek. The amount of trash accumulating in the waterway has become a concern for many in the community.

"We found car bumpers, carpets, water bottles, cigarette butts," said one volunteer as he showed Fox 4 what was picked up.

The volunteers gathered on Thursday morning outside a nearby Publix to pick up trash and leftover debris along the seven-mile stretch of the Henderson Creek Canal off Collier Boulevard.

It is a joint mission between the South Florida Water Management District and the Naples Area Board of Realtors (NABOR).

"We've got a lot of debris from construction going on in Naples, Florida," said Bernard Faithful, one of the volunteers with NABOR. "So, the waterways tend to be a little messy."

Faithful emphasized the importance of community support and said he wanted to be part of the change.

"The community is important because the community raised me. The community was very important for my upbringing, my family's upbringing," Faithful said. "It's very important when you talk about a village, and we need everybody in the community's support."

Keeping the canal clean is crucial not just for aesthetics. The critical waterway supports the local ecosystem and, by extension, the value of nearby properties.

"Unfortunately, people dump items in our canals, and we're providing flood control for this entire community," said Lisa Koehler, with the South Florida Water Management District.

Koehler highlighted the importance of keeping the canal clean in an area like Naples, which is prone to flooding. She says the trash often ends up in the canal after blowing out of people's cars.

"Our Henderson Creek Canal is one of the primary flood control canals in the community. A lot of areas, businesses, and residences rely on flood control from this canal," Koehler explained. "So it's really important that we keep debris and junk and everything out of that canal so we can have it free-flowing and doing its job."

The volunteers collected more than a dozen bags of hard trash. They say it shows a small effort can have a big impact.

"It takes everybody to make a community what it is," Koehler said.