Long Beach is beginning the process of implementing a new trash capture system along the lower Los Angeles River, city officials said on Wednesday, Oct. 29, one of several efforts the city is making to prevent trash and debris from reaching the Long Beach coastline.
City leaders say they are looking at local, regional and statewide solutions that combine innovation, collaboration, and environmental stewardship to tackle the issue and keep local beaches and waterways clean.
The new trash capture system is a major step toward reducing the amount of debris that reaches Long Beach’s beaches during storm events, Mayor Rex Richardson said during a Wednesday morning press conference on Belmont Shore Beach.
“The people of Long Beach are tired of seeing the region’s trash end up on our beaches,” Richardson said. “Today’s action is a major step toward lasting change.”
Earlier this month, the City Council asked staffers to look at ways to hold cities along the LA River accountable for trash and other debris that flows down the channel and ends up on the city’s beaches and its waterways.
The Los Angeles River stretches 51 miles, beginning in the San Fernando Valley, flowing southeast through Los Angeles County, and emptying into the Pacific Ocean at the San Pedro Bay.
From 2020 to 2024, Long Beach collected more than 25 million pounds of trash and debris that was carried downstream from the LA River into its waterways and beaches, costing the city nearly $12.3 million from the Tidelands Fund, officials said.
During that time, no cleanup orders, abatement actions or settlement offers were issued for violations, despite state law requiring a zero-trash standard for more than two decades. Long Beach officials say they want to stop carrying the financial and operational burden of managing and cleaning up the pollution generated by upstream jurisdictions.
Surfrider Foundation’s Kathryn Dressendorfer speaks during a press conference showcasing the city’s ongoing initiatives to prevent trash and debris from reaching the Long Beach coastline on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Department of Public Works Acting Director Joshua Hickman speaks during a press conference showcasing the city’s ongoing initiatives to prevent trash and debris from reaching the Long Beach coastline on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Councilmember Kristina Duggan, left, speaks during a press conference showcasing the city’s ongoing initiatives to prevent trash and debris from reaching the Long Beach coastline on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Mayor Rex Richardson speaks during a press conference showcasing the city’s ongoing initiatives to prevent trash and debris from reaching the Long Beach coastline on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Mayor Rex Richardson speaks during a press conference showcasing the city’s ongoing initiatives to prevent trash and debris from reaching the Long Beach coastline on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Mayor Rex Richardson speaks during a press conference showcasing the city’s ongoing initiatives to prevent trash and debris from reaching the Long Beach coastline on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Councilmember Kristina Duggan, center, attends a press conference showcasing the city’s ongoing initiatives to prevent trash and debris from reaching the Long Beach coastline on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Councilmember Kristina Duggan speaks during a press conference showcasing the city’s ongoing initiatives to prevent trash and debris from reaching the Long Beach coastline on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
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Surfrider Foundation’s Kathryn Dressendorfer speaks during a press conference showcasing the city’s ongoing initiatives to prevent trash and debris from reaching the Long Beach coastline on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
“Our coastline is one of Long Beach’s greatest assets,” Third District Councilmember Kristina Duggan said during the press conference, “and protecting it is a shared responsibility for the millions of people who live within our watershed.”
The city’s beach maintenance teams, along with community groups such as the Surfrider Foundation, Algalita, the Moore Institute and Justine Rudd’s nonprofit Community Action Team, are dedicated to eliminating trash and plastic from Long Beach waterways and ocean, Duggan said. But after all that effort, there are still concerns from residents, businesses and visitors that there is still too much trash making its way down the LA River.
Kathryn Dressendorfer from the Long Beach chapter of the Surfrider Foundation said volunteers have picked up almost 3,000 pounds of trash this year at the Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier and across the Long Beach coastline, and around 1,300 pounds of trash in one day along the San Gabriel River.
“That’s why today is so important,” Duggan said. “The city of Long Beach is united in saying we cannot and should not continue to shoulder the burden of pollution carried downstream. While we’ve made tremendous strides as a region, we know there’s still a long way to go.”
Long Beach continues making efforts locally as well, such as bringing on a new fleet of beach cleaning equipment and the Department of Public Works completing a Marine Debris and Trash Capture System Project feasibility study to evaluate technologies that intercept debris before reaching the ocean, said acting Public Works Director Josh Hickman.
The city will host a virtual community meeting to share information about the project from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 12. During the meeting, city staff and consultants will provide an overview of the project’s initial phase, a feasibility study that will evaluate a range of technologies that could intercept trash and debris in the lower LA River, identify optional system locations and outline next steps for potential design, permitting, construction, funding and long-term operations and maintenance, according to a press release.
Long Beach residents will also have the opportunity to discuss community concerns related to trash and pollution in the LA River and surrounding marine environments.
To register for the meeting, visit the project page at lbcity.info/marinedebrisproject. Pre-registration is encouraged but not required. Interpretation services in Spanish, Khmer and Tagalog, and any other accommodations, will be available upon request made by Nov. 6.
City leaders also shared next steps in the regional rule-making process to reduce trash at the source. City staffers are preparing formal comments on the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board’s rulemaking process to strengthen litter and debris regulations across the watershed, Richardson said.
The water board’s 2020 conditional waiver, which regulates “nonpoint” trash — debris blown into waterways during storms, meaning it has no specific origin and is difficult to regulate — expired in September and a new proposed set of requirements was released last week. A 30-day public comment period is now open, with the conditional waiver scheduled for consideration by the Regional Water Board in December. The regulations adopted through this process will govern trash in the L.A. River for the next five years, officials said.
The city is working with LA County Supervisor Janice Han and the county to accelerate permitting and resource support. Long Beach’s state legislative delegation is also working to pursue new funding opportunities through Proposition 4 and other water quality programs.
“At the regional level, we’re calling for shared accountability,” Richardson said. “We’ll be working with partner cities to better maintain upstream storm water infrastructure, to coordinate seasonal debris response, and pursue cost-sharing agreements, because the burden of cleanup cannot just fall on Long Beach.”