About Adopt-A-Waterway

Become an Adopt-A-Waterway (AAW) Group Today

…and help clean one or more of the 77 rivers, creeks, ponds, boat landings, or islands in Lexington or Richland counties in our program.

The Adopt-A-Waterway program was started in 2008 and is operated with financial assistance from Dominion Energy. Volunteer teams adopt a waterway and agree to remove litter from their selected area at least two times a year for at least two years. Groups are encouraged to do this once in the spring and once in the fall and participation in our September Lake Sweep / River Sweep is strongly encouraged and counts as your fall cleanup. This is a great program for young volunteers, families and other small groups but is open to groups of all types and sizes.

How to Get Started

  1. Gather a group of two or more people.

    • Group leaders must be at least 18 but children of all ages may participate with adult supervision.
  2. Select a waterway (island in Lake Murray, river, creek, boat ramp, etc.) in Lexington or Richland County to adopt from the lists below.

  3. Have the Group Leader complete this 15-minute online Safety and Orientation Training.
  4. Send this AAW Agreement Form to Keep the Midlands Beautiful…

    • by email to programs@kmbsc.org
    • by mail to KMB, 1305 Augusta Rd., West Columbia, SC 29169
  5. Watch your email (and spam folder) for approval which typically takes one week or less.
  6. Encourage all of your group members to sign up for our electronic newsletter submitted every other month by

  1. We will provide you with a sign, and loan you supplies to install the sign, if appropriate for your waterway, after you have completed one cleanup and have submitted a report card for the cleanup.

Program Requirements

  1. Remove litter from your adopted waterway at least TWO times each year (and preferably more).
  2. Your group is responsible for disposing of the litter you collect.
  3. Submit this Report Card after each litter cleanup. This helps to ensure that we continue to receive crucial funding so that we can continue to provide litter removal supplies at no charge for over 6,000 volunteers each year and lets us know that you are meeting program requirements.

How to Participate

  1. Choose your cleanup dates.
    • We recommend one cleanup in the spring and one in the fall.
    • We encourage the spring cleanup to take place during “The Great American Cleanup” period which takes place between the first day of spring (mid-March) to the first day of summer (mid-June).
    • We encourage your fall cleanup to coincide with our annual ‘Lake Sweep / River Sweep’ event in September. Please note that this requires you to pre-register and allows you to receive the event t-shirt and entry into the prize drawings typically worth over $3,000.
    • Groups may conduct additional pickups on their preferred dates.
  2. Request supplies.
    • Submit requests at least one week in advance using this Supply Request Form. KMB provides regular and a few extra-long litter grabbers, safety vests, cloth gloves, bags (plastic and mesh), and safety signs at no cost. However, you may be charged for the cost of supplies not returned.
  3. Pick up supplies from our office.
    • Supply kits are labeled with your group name and are placed on our porch at 1305 Augusta Rd., West Columbia, SC 29169. Pick them up 24-hours a day.
    • Our office is a small, red brick house converted into an office with a driveway that goes around the building. Please do not block the driveway. Park to the side of the brick driveway or in the backyard.
    • Supplies may also be purchased from KMB at cost and additional large quantities of free bags may be requested as needed.
  4. Conduct your litter pick-up.
    • ALL participants must sign a waiver one time prior to participating in a cleanup (i.e. not prior to every cleanup). Return all waivers to KMB.
    • Review safety procedures prior to every cleanup using the tip sheet provided with your supplies.
  5. Your group is responsible for properly disposing of all litter collected.
  6. Email photos of your group (faces, group photos, and people in front of your sign are best) to programs@kmbsc.org if we can use them.
  7. Submit a short Report Card after each pick-up to document the number of volunteers, hours spent and the number of bags of litter collected.
  8. Return all supplies to the KMB office porch within one week of each pick-up so that they may be used by other groups for one-time cleanups. Separate clean from dirty items and be sure everything is still labeled with your group name.

AAW Brochure