Debris Blankets Area Beaches : Trash: Cash-strapped agencies seek volunteer help to deal with unsightly messy buildup left by recent storms.

When Greg Diggins hit San Buenaventura State Beach Tuesday afternoon for a little sun and surf, he wore a T-shirt, swim trunks--and heavy work boots.

“I don’t want to step on anything that would tear my feet apart,” explained Diggins as he maneuvered around mounds of jagged bamboo stalks and other debris to find room to spread out his towel.

“I didn’t know it was going to be like this.”

From Emma Wood State Beach to Silver Strand, Ventura County beach-goers have been coping with piles of debris and trash deposited in recent weeks from this year’s series of heavy winter storms.

Local residents and officials in charge of cleaning it up say it is the worst trashing of area beaches they have seen in eight years. Unlike in 1985, the last time beaches got hit this heavily, there’s precious little public funding to pay for cleanup.

As beach-goers drift back to their favorite stretch of sand, many discover it buried beneath tons of debris. The rain-swollen Ventura and Santa Clara rivers have flushed trees, bamboo canes and a buildup of trash from the river bottoms and swept it out to sea.

Ocean currents and high surf have piled the detritus three feet high in some areas, forming a barrier between the shoreline and million-dollar oceanfront homes.

“It’s atrocious,” said Bodine Elias, chairwoman of the Oxnard Shores Neighborhood Council. “The beach is just about unusable at this point. We’re praying for a high tide that will take it away.”

But local and state officials in charge of cleaning up the junk say it will take more than tidal action to remove the debris. And in an era of limited public funding, governments are looking for creative ways to deal with the problem, said Jeff Price, chief ranger for the state beaches’ Channel Coast District.

His district, which is in charge of cleaning and patrolling Emma Wood and San Buenaventura beaches, is hoping to marshal volunteers and donations for a cleanup over two weekends, beginning March 21. Price said his office is contacting local 4-wheel-drive vehicle owner groups to see if they will help gather and haul trash, and is asking landfill operators if they will waive dumping fees.

The Seabees at the Port Hueneme base may also donate dump trucks and troops to remove debris, Price said. The Channel Coast District sponsored a similar cleanup last year when catastrophic floods flushed the rivers, and had a strong turnout, he said.

Debris is even heavier this year, but few people have volunteered to help, probably because the storm damage has not received as much publicity, Price said.

“Last year we had a slew of calls right after the February floods,” he said. “This year we are struggling to find volunteers.”

Cities are also struggling to meet the challenge, officials said. Cleanup efforts over the next two months in Ventura and Oxnard will rely heavily on volunteers, officials said.

The problem is that there is no money, said Oxnard parks Supt. Michael Henderson. “That’s the bottom line.”

Henderson said public works employees will gather the larger pieces into piles. Once the big stuff is cleaned up, the city will rely on neighborhood volunteers to help with the smaller jobs, he said.

The city has targeted April 12 for the cleanup, he said.

Barbara Harison, director of Ventura’s parks and recreation department, said the city will hire heavy-equipment operators to remove some of the debris. She also hopes to ask the state Department of Parks for more equipment and the Sheriff’s Department for labor from its work-furlough program to help cut costs.

“We want to try to do it as soon as possible because we’re moving into the tourist season,” said Harison, who is in charge of maintaining beaches from the Pierpont area to the Ventura Harbor. “We’d like to get it done by mid-April.”

Port Hueneme’s wide, sandy beaches were largely shielded from river runoff by jetties that extend from the Port of Hueneme, said John Duffy, director of public works. The rock extensions caught most of the southward-floating driftwood and protected the city’s beaches, he said.

“We had a little extra maintenance, but not much more than normal,” he said.

For some, the jumble of driftwood has been more an adventure than a nuisance. Wendy Burger,42, of Ojai visited San Buenaventura Beach Tuesday with her 2-year-old son, Clinton, and was delighted to find piles of cane. The two spent the afternoon building a “fort” with the long, slender stalks.

The debris is “not particularly attractive,” she said, “but it won’t keep us away.”

The materials also will not harm birds and other wildlife species that feed and nest on the beaches. McGrath State Beach and other natural preserves will be the last to be cleaned up because the debris does not endanger wildlife, said Lt. Reed Smith, a state Department of Fish and Game official.

“There’s a lot of debris, but it’s a pretty natural process,” Smith said. “We don’t consider it pollution.”