An annual harbinger of spring in Northglenn has been canceled in the wake of the massive mid-March storm that coated Colorado’s Front Range snow.

The city canceled the annual Farmer’s Highline Canal cleanup scheduled for March 16.

“The weather (was) supposed to be pretty good on Saturday,” city representative Jenni Murphy said. “But we’d have to dig through quite a bit of snow to find the trash, so not this year.”

The city hosts the volunteer cleanup along the canal, stretching from the E.B. Rains Jr. Memorial Park through 13 miles of pathways into Thornton. Murphy said it’s important to get the work done before April 1 because that’s when the gates to the canal are reopened and the water flows back through them for the summer.

Volunteers in 2018 filled 500 bags of trash an clutter.

The city hosts a barbecue as a reward after the annual event, which draws volunteer groups and teams of kids.

“But spring break for the kids from Adams 12 and 27J are coming up in the next few weeks, and we rely on those kids so much,” Murphy said. “A lot of them won’t be available.”

Instead, Murphy said the city will rely on individual volunteer groups and court-mandated volunteers to pick up trash along the canal for the next few weeks.

The 2020 version of the canal cleanup has already been scheduled for March 14 — with a March 21 make-up date, Murphy said, in case the weather does not cooperate.