Not sure if this is something the community here has interest in.
A section of the creek bank has fallen away, revealing that all of the soil has been recently deposited (~ last few decades). The garbage inclusion likely spreads for dozens or maybe hundreds of cubic meters of earth. We don't want to disturb the soil to clean this out so we're limited to surface level cleaning.
On the flipside: it's lots of deep fertile topsoil. The fast growing weeds, like lantana, absolutely love it.
It's probably been very well shielded from UV rays. Likely still soft and pliant.
Alas if I pick at it I think the bank will fall apart further. The creek water is about 2m away from this (right at my feet) and during storm surges this area is underwater.
Yep.
We're trying to find out how to fix this -- including talking to various local gov groups -- but it's a problem larger than what we can fix with just our volunteer's hands & (little) authority.
This was one bad spot that we chose to clear the lantana from so we could inspect it.
The rest of this section of creek wall (1-2m high) is retained by lantana and other weeds, so it's hidden and less obvious:
(We don't want to clear the lantana from the rest of the banks, despite it being a weed, because it's retaining them. Removing it will probably send all of the soil downstream)