ACWORTH — More than 3,600 people participated in Saturday’s Great Lake Allatoona Cleanup. The 26th annual event involved the volunteers cleaning the shorelines of Lake Allatoona and Lake Acworth.

Each fall, when the water levels are lowered in preparation for storm season, various bottles and other debris appear. So the volunteers go out and tidy up the lakes’ shores. In 2010, more than 40 tons of waste was removed.

Items that were found Saturday included soda cans, water bottles, fishing lures, rugs and tires.

Groups — from Boy Scouts, fishermen and marina workers to environmentalists, corporate groups and homeowners — typically lend a hand in the effort. The one-day event has proven to be so successful that less and less work is needed each year, said Steve Karle, who lives on Lake Allatoona.

“The lake is getting cleaner every year,” said Karle, who was a volunteer coordinator.

“We get less bags and stuff like that. It still needs to be done of course, but it’s definitely improving every year.”

All the trash that was collected this weekend was placed in garbage bags to be collected from Monday through Wednesday by volunteers and a team from Georgia Power, who will then carry the trash to a landfill.

“They’re going to go out on boats and pick up the trash bags that all of the people left along the 270 miles of shoreline,” said Carole Miller, a GLAC committee member.

Following the cleanup was a picnic for volunteers at Riverside Park in Cartersville, which featured food, games and music.

Previously, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers handled the cleanup until federal budget cuts led the Lake Allatoona Preservation Authority to take it over in 2007.

The LAPA partnered with the Lake Allatoona Association for this year’s cleanup, which was co-chaired by LAA member Aaron Feldt and LAPA member Wayne Biasetti.

“Some really talented and just regular people put this thing together,” said Biasetti. “It’s going to get bigger and bigger every year.”

After a thorough review of last year’s cleanup, the LAPA board decided to move the management of the cleanup away from a paid manager and toward a volunteer-led effort. In March, an agreement was made to allow the LAA to begin leading the cleanup starting in 2012.