LOUISVILLE, Ky. — More than 20 volunteers gathered at Waterfront Park to clean up litter and natural debris after recent flooding.

Jane Stanford is one volunteer who helped with the clean-up efforts across the 85-acre green space.

“I’ve seen Captain’s quarters basically under water. And yeah, 64 was a bad flood. But this has just been a crazy winter. We haven’t had one quite like this in a long time here,” said Stanford.

Waterfront Park welcomes more than 2 million visitors each year. The park is donor-supported.

Stanford said it’s important to take care of our local parks and green spaces.

“I do want our city to be a showcase. Especially during Derby, but not just derby for everything. And it doesn’t take a lot to keep it that way,” said Stanford.

Waterfront Park Manager Emily Clayton said flooding is common this time every year, because the Ohio River brings water from the North.

“We are in a floodplain here at Waterfront Park. So this park is built to take on that flood water and be able to wash it out and drain it back,” said Clayton.

Clayton said when the river rises, it brings a lot of unwanted materials to the surface.

“There’s child slides that have washed up. In the past, we’ve seen whole refrigerators wash up in the park,” said Clayton.

Both Clayton and Stanford hope people will recognize that littering is a big problem.

“It makes our city kind of look trashy. And it takes just a second to put it in the trash container. If we want to make our city showcase very nicely, especially with Derby coming up,” said Stanford.

The Waterfront will be expanding westward, making it 112 acres of green space. The expansion is estimated to be complete in Spring 2025.