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While the effort to remove people from San Benito River has been successful so far, debris continues to be removed and that work will continue for some time.
That’s according to Celina Stotler, integrated waste manager with the county’s Resource Management Agency who is helping lead the clean-up effort.
“All phases of the San Benito River Cleanup are currently clear of active encampments,” she told BenitoLink. “While the encampment abatement portion of the project has been successfully completed, solid waste removal associated with former encampments, ongoing illegal dumping, and abandoned vehicle abatement remain ongoing, primarily within Phase 4.”
BenitoLink reporting shows the San Benito River cleanup unfolding in five phases, each defined by bridge‑to‑bridge segments.
Phases 1 and 2, from Hwy 156 to Fourth Street and from Fourth Street to Nash Road, were completed during the initial push, beginning in April.
Crews removed 30-plus tons of trash, 35 to 40 abandoned vehicles, and filled numerous 40‑yard dumpsters, while outreach teams contacted roughly two dozen people who were in the riverbed.
These phases consumed most of 2026’s $352,000 budget due to hazardous terrain and extensive debris.
Phase 3, from Nash Road to Hospital Road, resumed after a budget pause between August and December 2025, when supervisors approved $106,000 more. This stretch focused on dismantling rebuilt encampments and towing buried or long‑abandoned vehicles. Phases 4 and 5 continue downstream toward Union Road, where encampments expanded during the five-month hiatus.
Sheriff’s Deputy Peter O’Day now patrols the riverbed four days a week to prevent re‑entry, while contractors remove additional trash and vehicles. These later phases emphasize ongoing enforcement and keeping the river corridor accessible for public use.
The cleanup effort is a result of an ordinance adopted by the San Benito County Board of Supervisors on Aug. 27, 2024, “permanently banning the use of certain public rights‑of‑way as sleeping or living quarters.”
O’Day said the river will continue to attract people who have adapted to the homeless outdoor lifestyle, mostly guided by their drug addictions. O’Day told BenitoLink he is working on the last of five phases stretching from Hwy 156 to the Hospital Road bridge. He said he personally knows most of the people who come into the riverbed from having interacted with them over the past 10 years.
“We started in April 2025 at Hwy 156 and worked our way upstream from there, clearing encampments as we (went),” he said, “cleaning up all the copious amounts of trash that are left behind from the encampments. We’ve made our way all the way up to the Hospital Road Bridge. There are not too many more encampments beyond that.”
On July 16, O’Day took this reporter on an impromptu four-wheel tour into the riverbed between the Hospital Road bridge and the Union Road bridge. He said his days are now mainly filled with driving back and forth between the bridges looking for people in the early stages of trying to establish encampments. He said it’s easier to discourage them at that point.
While the county and city have successfully removed the people, for the time being, the riverbed is a long way from being cleared of the massive amount of debris. It could take months, O’Day said.
Several cars had been hauled to one location to be picked up. All the major structures, including an underground living space and a spacious “cabin” that was built by a man called Ramone had been torn down for later removal. O’Day said Ramone had been in construction and had installed solar-powered air conditioning and a microwave.
Besides cars and a boat, the debris field scattered throughout the riverbed is immense. Some items had been piled up along the path for pickup, only to be picked through and scattered again by unknown people. Items ranged from an easy chair, toys, shopping carts, paneling, and pile after pile of unidentifiable objects. O’Day said some of the cars were lived in for a time, while others, and the boat, were brought down into the river to be abandoned.
Near the Union Road bridge, O’Day showed off one small clearing between trees that had been cleaned up to a point where it resembled a pristine habitat. He said it was how it should look all the time but wasn’t likely. After all the debris has been removed, he said Granite Rock will place concrete barriers at key entry points to hopefully prevent people from driving down into the river.
There is no end-date to the clean-up effort because when the supervisors adopted the ordinance they did not include a sunset clause, meaning that enforcement and cleanup will continue indefinitely if encampments continue to appear and funding is provided.
According to the ordinance, the Sheriff’s Office, Code Enforcement, and the Parks & Trails Deputy, a position currently filled by O’Day, is responsible for clearing encampments, issuing citations, and removing debris from riverbeds and roadways. The county initially budgeted $350,000 in 2024 for enforcement and cleanup and later added another $150,000 in early 2025.
By June 2025, when the fiscal year ended, the county had spent $214,000 for the first two phases of the clean-up work and had removed 49 abandoned and inoperable vehicles, motorhomes, and trailers by then, Stotler said. The last of the active encampments were also removed, she added. She also said O’Day will continue to monitor all phases and respond to reports of recurring encampments.
O’Day told BenitoLink he constantly backtracks down the river to make sure no new encampments have sprung up behind him.
Regarding where the homeless who have been removed from the riverbed move to, Stotler said city staff provides outreach and connects people with available services and shelter resources when possible.
“Some individuals have relocated to other communities, including areas outside of San Benito County, while others have accessed shelter or other services,” she said. “The county has also observed recurring encampments in other locations.”
O’Day added, “A number of former river folk have been seen residing at the Hollister Hills campground, as well as homeless encampments in city parks, such as Dunn, Third Street, as well as Fourth Street near the roundabout.”
O’Day said that in his experience, few of those removed from the riverbed want any services the county has to offer. He said during warm months anywhere between 30 to 50 people will be in the riverbed. And most are what he calls “homegrown.”
“There are reasons for that,” O’Day said. “They’re your cousins, brother, neighbor, people that are down and out, most of the time with heavy substance addictions. At least 80% were repeat offenders.”
He explained that as he and cleanup crews worked their way up the river there were not enough resources to stop new encampments from springing up ahead of them close to Hospital Road.
“We couldn’t do it all at once,” he said. “They got the message that if they moved upriver we didn’t have the manpower to do anything about it but eventually we would get to them.”
He said as the cleanup moved up river some people did keep relocating their encampments ahead of it.
“I told them, don’t go upriver. I’m not there yet, but I will be.,” he said, “and I’m just going to make you move. If not today, then tomorrow. Tomorrow came and the last people were largely repeats from down the river.”
One recent incident underscored the importance of monitoring the riverbed,, although O’Day described it as, “just another Tuesday.”
On June 26 at 8:30 a.m., according to a Sheriff’s Office press release, deputies responded to reports of a suspicious vehicle driving slowly through a neighborhood. They said they discovered a vehicle matching the description parked on a section of private property within the riverbed.
The occupants of the vehicle were uncooperative and were arrested, according to the release, and the driver was found to have a bag of suspected methamphetamine. A further search of the vehicle found an additional baggie of suspected methamphetamine, suspected psilocybin mushrooms, and dozens of used needles, the release said.
Deputies also recovered an un-serialized, privately manufactured, short-barrel rifle, commonly referred to as a “ghost gun,” from inside the vehicle, according to the release. The driver was arrested on multiple felony charges related to the possession of narcotics and the firearm, and is still in custody, the release said, and the passenger was arrested for trespassing on private property and has since been released from custody. The release did not disclose their names or where they live.
In addition to funding the cleanup, the county partnered with several contractors and organizations, Stotler told BenitoLink.
According to Stotler, work and related costs included:
- Coastal Habitat Education Environmental Restoration (CHEER) has been crucial in debris removal services at an estimated cost of $33,332 for fiscal year 2025-26.
- Tucker Construction Inc. handled encampment personal property storage coordination, documentation, bio-waste and hazardous waste removal, debris removal and cleanup services at an initial cost of $133,500 and a continued estimated cost of $33,000 for the current fiscal year.
- Recology provided boxes for debris collection through a combination donated and paid services at a cost of $3,171.
- RJR Recycling did debris removal and cleanup services for an estimated cost of $1,400.00.
- Samuel Mason Towing removed abandoned and inoperable vehicles for $8,750.
- San Jose Conservation Corps provided volunteer cleanup assistance, including two days provided at no cost in July, and ongoing support with tire collection and removal.
After being removed from their encampments, 36 people were offered services but only six went to the shelter, and four received hotel vouchers provided by the county, according to Stotler.
“The county does not currently have a dedicated, ongoing funding source for hotel vouchers,” Stotler said. “Limited funding is available on an as-needed basis, with approximately $5,000 currently available to support temporary lodging assistance when appropriate.”
During the cleanup 13 dumping sites were cleared; 40 vehicles were removed; 16 pets were found and spayed or neutered; and thirteen 40-yard-foot containers were filled and taken to the landfill. The work to remove more debris continues.
“Overall, the cleanup has been highly successful in restoring the San Benito River corridor by eliminating active encampments throughout all project phases and significantly reducing accumulated waste,” Stotler said. “The assigned sheriff’s deputy continues to regularly monitor the river corridor to identify and address any new encampments before they become established, while the county works to continue removing remaining abandoned vehicles and debris. We anticipate only minor cleanup in Phase 5.”
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