It\u2019s a pitch that has seemed at times far-fetched to residents who have witnessed homeless encampments proliferate along the river\u2019s embankments over the years \u2014 a societal problem that comes with persistent trash and illegal dumping, creating squalid conditions that have long repelled visitors.<\/p>\n
But Salas said conditions along the river have improved<\/a> over just the past year,\u00a0amid a massive cleanup effort that has seen hundreds of tons of refuse removed from the water. Now, his message is finding a more receptive audience.<\/p>\n \u201c(In the past) I\u2019d tell them in advance, \u2018You have to wear your rose-colored glasses\u2019 because it\u2019s at once beautiful, but it\u2019s also an embarrassment,\u201d Salas, founder of engineering and technical services firm Salas O\u2019Brien, told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cIt\u2019s disgusting. It\u2019s a cesspool \u2014 but it\u2019s really cool now.\u201d<\/p>\n Salas \u2014 who briefly served as District 3 councilmember<\/a>\u00a0last year following the departure of disgraced former Councilmember Omar Torres<\/a> \u2014 has already taken steps to ratchet up his charm offensive on behalf of the Guadalupe.<\/p>\n Earlier this month, Salas partnered with District 6 Councilmember Michael Mulcahy\u2019s office to host a kayak tour event that drew more than 100 people to the river embankment across from the SAP Center. Dozens ventured out onto the Guadalupe\u2019s calm waters, paddling through a brief circuit running from the West Santa Clara Street bridge to where the river converges with Los Gatos Creek.<\/p>\n Salas said he hopes that as more people see the Guadalupe\u2019s potential as a downtown getaway and venue for public events, these efforts will generate a virtuous cycle of increased interest that will further fuel preservation efforts.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a billion-dollar asset right here that people have been looking away from for six, 10, 20 years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Salas had his own \u201cah-ha\u201d\u00a0moment about six years ago while listening to a presentation on efforts to clean up the Los Angeles River. At one point, someone floated the idea of hosting kayak tours along the famously polluted waterway.<\/p>\n If it could work there, Salas thought, perhaps it could here, too.<\/p>\n \u201cI went down to Dick\u2019s Sporting Goods and bought a kayak \u2014 I\u2019d never had a kayak \u2014 and I threw it in the river,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s like \u2014 this is beautiful. There\u2019s turtles and beavers, and this is downtown.\u201d<\/p>\n But the Guadalupe\u2019s longstanding reputation for pollution may be hard to shake.<\/p>\n When Mulcahy uploaded a video of a kayak outing<\/a> on the river to Instagram in June, the post generated hundreds of incredulous comments from residents, many of whom expressed strident doubts about the water\u2019s safety.<\/p>\n \u201cNo one actually from San Jose would go near that water,\u201d wrote one commenter.<\/p>\n But Mulcahy pushed back, suggesting that given the conservation gains of the past year, such views are out of date.<\/p>\n \u201cI just say to those people, give us another shot,\u201d Mulcahy told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cCome out and see for yourself how beautiful that setting is \u2014 the perspective of San Jose that most of those people probably have never seen before.\u201d<\/p>\n San Jose designated the area around Guadalupe River as a \u201cno encampment zone<\/a>\u201d\u00a0in 2024, meaning the city may carry out sweeps of homeless camps there without the typical 72-hour notice.<\/p>\n Conservation advocates said the precipitous drop in homeless encampments that followed, combined with tens of thousands of cleanup hours from volunteers and city workers, have transformed the area \u2014 and even led to a resurgence of native salmon populations<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t drink the water, but I would say it\u2019s come a long way from where it was,\u201d Steve Holmes, founder and executive director of the South Bay Clean Creeks Coalition, which has been involved in the cleanup effort, told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight.<\/p>\n Holmes applauded Salas\u2019 kayak tours, and expressed hope the growing interest in the Guadalupe could help to open a new chapter in its winding history.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s our town,\u201d Holmes said. \u201cI think that having the ability to see the story of reclamation and these fish coming back each year, and numbers increasing, and making the community aware that we have this resource in our backyard \u2014 I think it\u2019s a positive play.\u201d<\/p>\n Contact Keith Menconi at [email\u00a0protected]<\/a> or @KeithMenconi on X.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_20260801_094231626-1-1024x768.jpg\")
Carl Salas hopes his kayak tours will ignite new interest in the conservation efforts surrounding the Guadalupe River. Photo courtesy of Jordan Moldow.<\/p>\n![\"In-line](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/interactive-321838904008.png\")
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