Northeast Florida Realtors join statewide waterway cleanup effort

Florida Realtors are mobilizing volunteers across Northeast Florida's seven counties this month for the sixth annual Clean Up Florida Waters initiative, targeting debris in the St. Johns River, Intracoastal Waterway, Atlantic beaches, and the network of tributaries and retention ponds that define the region's built environment. Local Realtor associations are organizing cleanup events throughout Duval, St. Johns, Clay, Nassau, Flagler, Baker, and Putnam counties as part of a statewide effort that last year drew nearly 2,050 volunteers to 134 events.

The initiative underscores the direct connection between environmental health and real estate value in a coastal region where waterfront access and water quality drive home prices and shape development patterns. For Northeast Florida, where growth pressures concentrate along the river corridor and barrier islands, the health of these waterways is both an ecological concern and an economic foundation.

What's happening

Clean Up Florida Waters encourages Realtor associations, members, and residents to organize or participate in cleanup events targeting lakes, rivers, streams, retention ponds, bays, the Intracoastal Waterway, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Atlantic Ocean, according to Florida Realtors. The statewide program is now in its sixth year.

Last year's effort logged 717 volunteer hours across 134 local events statewide, removing debris from 239 miles of waterways. Volunteers collected almost 16 tons of trash — roughly the weight of six full-size school buses. Items recovered ranged from common litter to a freezer, street signs, a box of rolled quarters, and a full bottle of sake.

"Realtors know that Florida's beautiful beaches and waterways are a big reason so many people love to live in – and visit – the Sunshine State," said 2026 Florida Realtors President Chuck Bonfiglio Jr., broker-owner of AAA Realty Group in Plantation.

Local Realtor groups are encouraged to partner with environmental organizations including Coastal Conservation Association chapters, state Waterkeepers organizations, Captains for Clean Water, Keep Florida Beautiful affiliates, and other cleanup groups. Florida Realtors is a Keep Florida Beautiful Gold Sun Level partner, enabling local Keep Florida Beautiful affiliates to collaborate with Realtor associations on waterway cleanup efforts.

Stellar MLS is the main sponsor for Florida Realtors' Clean Up Florida Waters. Coast 2 Coast MLS Data Share and Coastal Conservation Association Florida provide additional sponsorship.

Impact on waterfront property values

The condition of Northeast Florida's waterways directly influences property values and marketability across the region's most expensive real estate corridors. Waterfront homes command premium prices along the St. Johns River's Southbank and Riverside neighborhoods, the Intracoastal Waterway from Ponte Vedra through Amelia Island, and inland tributaries like Julington Creek and the Ortega River.

Water quality and debris accumulation affect buyer perceptions and appraisal values in these areas. Trash-laden riverbanks or polluted tributaries create visual blight that can depress nearby home values, while clean, accessible waterways enhance the lifestyle amenities that justify premium pricing. The cleanup initiative addresses the visible debris layer that shapes buyer impressions during property showings and waterfront tours.

In master-planned waterfront communities like Nocatee and SilverLeaf in St. Johns County, where developers market water access and natural settings as core selling points, waterway health is integral to maintaining the value proposition. Retention ponds, which are common stormwater features in Florida subdivisions and are included in the cleanup scope, also affect neighborhood aesthetics and property values when poorly maintained.

Environmental and wildlife implications

The trash targeted by cleanup volunteers poses documented threats to the region's sensitive aquatic ecosystems. The St. Johns River and its tributaries support diverse fish populations, wading birds, manatees in designated zones, and the extensive Timucuan Ecological & Historic Preserve on the lower river. Debris accumulation in these systems creates wildlife entanglement hazards, ingestion risks for aquatic species, and transport mechanisms for invasive species.

Coastal cleanup efforts along the Atlantic beaches and Intracoastal Waterway in Nassau, Duval, and Flagler counties address marine debris that affects sea turtles during nesting season, shorebirds, and the marsh ecosystems of the Guana Tolomato Matanzas Research Reserve. The Intracoastal's shallow marshes are particularly vulnerable to trash accumulation because tidal flows concentrate floating debris along vegetation lines.

Stormwater retention ponds, which are ubiquitous in post-1990s subdivisions and commercial developments across the region, function as the first line of defense against pollutants entering natural waterways. When these engineered ponds accumulate trash and debris, their filtration capacity degrades, allowing more pollutants to reach the St. Johns River and its tributaries during heavy rain events. Cleaning retention ponds improves their function as stormwater management infrastructure.

The cleanup effort also serves an educational function, making visible the pathways by which land-based litter reaches waterways. In a rapidly developing region where thousands of acres of rural and forested land convert to subdivisions and commercial sites annually, understanding these connections informs better stormwater design and site management practices in new development.

Development and infrastructure considerations

For the real estate and development industries, the cleanup initiative highlights the ongoing maintenance burden that waterfront and water-dependent development creates. Developers marketing waterfront lots or water-access amenities rely on clean, attractive waterways to close sales and justify premium lot pricing. Community Development Districts (CDDs), which govern many master-planned communities in the region and assess homeowners for common-area maintenance, often include waterway and pond maintenance in their budgets.

The initiative's focus on retention ponds is particularly relevant to Northeast Florida's development landscape. State and local stormwater regulations require most new developments to manage runoff on-site through retention or detention systems. These ponds become permanent infrastructure features that require long-term maintenance. When HOAs or CDDs neglect pond upkeep, debris and algae accumulation can trigger code enforcement actions and resident complaints.

In older neighborhoods on septic systems or aging infrastructure, litter in drainage swales and roadside ditches compounds stormwater management challenges. As the City of Jacksonville and JEA continue septic-to-sewer conversion programs in Westside, Northside, and Southside neighborhoods, cleanup efforts in these areas can support improved drainage function and reduce pollutant loads entering the sewer collection system during wet-weather events.

The cleanup data — 239 miles of waterways addressed last year statewide, with 16 tons of debris removed — illustrates the scale of the maintenance challenge across Florida's 8,436 miles of coastline and extensive inland water network. For local governments and utilities managing stormwater and environmental compliance, volunteer cleanup supplements but does not replace the need for ongoing professional maintenance and litter prevention infrastructure.

Community engagement and local participation

The initiative provides Realtor associations across Northeast Florida's seven counties a structured platform to demonstrate community investment and environmental stewardship. Real estate professionals, whose livelihoods depend on the region's appeal to buyers and investors, have a direct business interest in maintaining the waterway assets that differentiate Northeast Florida in the competitive Sunbelt real estate market.

Local associations can organize cleanup events tailored to their geographic markets — a riverfront focus in Jacksonville's urban core along the Northbank and Southbank, beach cleanups in Atlantic Beach and Neptune Beach, Intracoastal efforts in Ponte Vedra and Vilano Beach, or tributary cleanups along Julington Creek in Mandarin and the Ortega River in Ortega. Nassau County events might concentrate on Amelia Island beaches and the Nassau River, while Clay County efforts could target Black Creek and Lake Asbury.

The partnership structure with established environmental organizations like Waterkeepers, Coastal Conservation Association, and Keep Florida Beautiful affiliates brings expertise and logistical support to Realtor-organized events. These partnerships also connect real estate professionals with conservation groups that influence land-use policy and development regulations, creating dialogue channels between the development and environmental communities.

For residents, the initiative offers accessible entry points to waterway stewardship without requiring specialized knowledge or long-term commitments. Cleanup events typically run a few hours on weekend mornings, require minimal equipment beyond gloves and collection bags (usually provided), and accommodate families and varying fitness levels. This accessibility is key to mobilizing the volunteer hours needed to address debris across hundreds of miles of shoreline and riverbank.

What happens next

Florida Realtors is directing local associations and interested volunteers to its Clean Up Florida Waters event page, where participants can find scheduled cleanup locations across the state. Northeast Florida residents looking for events in Duval, St. Johns, Clay, Nassau, Flagler, Baker, or Putnam counties can check the event locator to identify nearby cleanup opportunities organized by local Realtor associations.

Local Realtor groups interested in organizing additional events can partner with regional environmental organizations and register their cleanup activities through the Florida Realtors program. The initiative runs throughout the year, though cleanup activity typically concentrates in spring and fall when weather conditions are favorable and summer tourism/winter seasonal resident populations are lower.

Volunteers who participate in cleanup events contribute to the statewide data collection on debris volume, miles of waterway addressed, and volunteer hours logged. This data informs Florida Realtors' ongoing environmental advocacy and supports the organization's partnership with Keep Florida Beautiful.

The initiative reflects a broader pattern of environmental engagement by real estate industry organizations as climate resilience, flood risk, and water quality become material factors in Florida property values and development viability. As Northeast Florida continues rapid growth — St. Johns County remains among the fastest-growing counties in Florida, and Nassau County development accelerates along the Wildlight and SR 200 corridors — maintaining waterway health requires sustained effort from both public agencies and private volunteers. The Realtors' cleanup program channels private-sector resources toward a public environmental good that supports the region's long-term real estate market fundamentals.