Crystal Tobias is a longtime river cleanup volunteer<\/a> in the Sacramento region. She said e-scooters have become a recurring problem during river cleanups she\u2019s participated in.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, dozens and dozens of them,\u201d Tobias said. \u201cMaybe over a hundred. It\u2019s every waterway\u2026 Steelhead Creek, Arcade Creek, the American River, Discovery Park. It\u2019s just rampant.\u201d<\/p>\n Tobias said scooters often become buried in mud or tangled in plants in the water. She said this makes the removal difficult and some require winches<\/a> to pull them free.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen somebody dumps a scooter, it\u2019s not just the scooter,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s all of the interior workings that start to deteriorate and go into the water.\u201d<\/p>\n She said lithium-ion batteries attached to e-scooters and other components contribute to water pollution. She says this is especially a concern in Sacramento\u2019s waterways that are salmon and steelhead habitats.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis is our drinking water. This is water we recreate in,\u201d Tobias said. \u201cThis water is our life.\u201d<\/p>\n Who is responsible for the cleanup?\u00a0<\/p>\n According to the City of Sacramento, scooter retrieval is not the city’s responsibility.<\/p>\n Gabby Miller, a city spokesperson, told CapRadio that the city does not remove scooters from waterways and leaves cleanup and retrieval to the companies.<\/p>\n Lime, in a statement sent to CapRadio after being asked for an interview, said it removes scooters that end up in waterways and recently recovered multiple near the Tower Bridge.<\/p>\n “These scooters only became visible at the end of last week as the river level lowered; yesterday provided our team with the first safe opportunity to recover them,\u201d according to Lime.<\/p>\n \u201cAt Lime, we take pride in working to prevent vehicles from ending up in the water and retrieving them promptly in the rare cases that happen. The vast majority of our riders and Sacramento residents would never vandalize an e-scooter, and we’ve seen these incidents decrease over time as we implement preventative strategies and the community embraces our vehicles as essential transportation infrastructure. Unfortunately, some bad apples do occasionally vandalize our fleet in this way.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Lime\u2019s written response, this was a more frequent issue during the first couple of years of their coming to the area. Since then, they said they have seen less.\u00a0 Rosenthal Shiraz, a spokesperson for Bird, said the company pulls out scooters when they end up in rivers or restricted areas.<\/p>\n \u201cWe do get reports of scooters that get thrown into the rivers and the waterways of Sacramento,\u201d said Shiraz. \u201cOur operations team does retrieve those vehicles when we get reports of them.\u201d<\/p>\n Shiraz said Bird\u2019s scooters are tracked with GPS and an alert is triggered when they become submerged. She said the company typically responds to reports through Sacramento\u2019s 311 system, though recovery of submerged scooters can take longer.<\/p>\n \u201cFor a submerged vehicle, it requires a little bit more equipment and time,\u201d Shiraz said. \u201cThat\u2019ll take anywhere between 24 to 48 hours to retrieve.\u201d<\/p>\n Bird said it also uses geofencing technology near waterways to slow scooters to an \u201cuncomfortable\u201d speed if riders enter restricted zones.<\/p>\n Cleanup volunteers say they\u2019re doing the work<\/p>\n But Tobias said cleanup crews are often the ones removing scooters, and that they typically dispose of them in landfills due to water damage.<\/p>\n \u201cWe haul them out and we take them to the landfill,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019ve been in the water. You can\u2019t use them again.\u201d<\/p>\n Tobias said she has never seen company retrieval teams at cleanup sites.<\/p>\n \u201cI have never, ever seen a company dive team,\u201d she said. \u201cNor has the city ever said to us, \u2018If you find one of these things, call this number and somebody will come get it.\u2019 That has never happened.\u201d<\/p>\n Sacramento City Councilmember Phil Pluckebaum, whose district includes most of Downtown, said scooters provide real transportation benefits to residents in the city\u2019s core, even if misuse does happen.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re handy mobility devices,\u201d Pluckebaum said. \u201cPeople are relying on them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhether it\u2019s a water quality issue or just a visual blight,\u201d he said, \u201cthat\u2019s an important part of being a good corporate steward.\u201d<\/p>\n Pluckebaum said residents who see scooters in waterways should report them through the city\u2019s 311 system<\/a>.<\/p>\n Rental e-bikes and e-scooters ending up where they are not supposed to be is happening beyond Sacramento. Similar problems have been reported in other cities where shared scooters and e-bikes are available. A recent BBC<\/a> story reported that rental bikes are being pulled from rivers and canals in cities across England, raising concerns about pollution and cleanup costs. \u201cThe idea was innovative,\u201d Tobias said. \u201cBut in the wrong hands, it\u2019s very detrimental to our environment.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Four rental e-scooters were pulled from the water in Sacramento by the rental company Lime on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2026.Photo courtesy of Lime<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’ve reached out to several local waterway cleanup organizations in Sacramento, and we look forward to hopefully working with them on future prevention and cleanup efforts,\u201d a company spokesperson wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/scooters-p.jpg\")
A Bird and Lime scooter parked and locked up to a bike rack in front of Shake Shack on R Street in Downtown Sacramento on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2026.Riley Palmer\/CapRadio
Pluckebaum said vandalism and improper disposal does happen with the rentals, but said companies should be responsible for managing the full lifecycle of their devices.<\/p>\n
Tobias says she believes that if the city is going to allow the scooters in the area, there should be more oversight. She says they should hold the companies more accountable and pay attention to who is pulling them out of the water.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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