Lakewood creek water discolored
Creek water flowing under a bridge along West Lawther Drive runs milky white. — Photo by Bruce Felps
By Bruce Felps
What started for Hollywood-Santa Monica resident Susan Campbell as a relaxing drive home yesterday along a scenic route near White Rock Lake instead angered the Science Lady.
She noticed water in a creek just west of the lake — near the intersection where Williamson Road dead-ends into West Lawther Drive — running a milky, opaque white. The scene looked similar to the one she saw last summer when a floor-stripping solution was dumped in to Dixon Creek near a Lake Highlands school.
A walk along the Lakewood creek revealed the same sight. I walked upstream from the intersection following the creek northwest, then west, snapping a few photos of the discolored water.
The discoloration appeared to start at a pipeline crossing the creek. On the upstream side, the water looked brackishly normal. A white plastic bucket immediately to the downstream side of the pipe might have been the source of the milky white water.
Campbell plans to take and test water samples from the stretch, and a call to Dallas Water Utilities has yet to be returned, but then again it’s the weekend.
More to come.
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- Creek water flowing under a bridge along West Lawther Drive runs milky white. — Photo by Bruce Felps
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- The scene reminds Susan Campbell of the last year’s situation along Dixon Creek (right). — Photo by Susan Campbell
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- The bucket — upstream from the bridge, nearly touching the pipe — might be the source of the discolored water. — Photo by Bruce Felps
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- Water in the creek looks decidedly milky white. — Photo by Bruce Felps
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Pingback on Jan 31st, 2011 at 11:02 am
[...] Water Utilities is on the case of the discolored creek water today but couldn’t give an estimated time of inspection or return [...]
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Pingback on Jan 31st, 2011 at 2:08 pm
[...] Rios of Dallas Water Utilities investigated the discolored water flowing in the creek that runs through Lakewood [...]
January 30, 2011 at 3:30 pm
Hey thanks, Bruce, for running this. I’m heading out to scope the situation today. I plan to sample for microinvertebrates comparing the ‘white’ water and the clear water, upstream. I’ll send any decent photos from that.
Hey folks…don’t throw stuff in a creek! The ramifications can be huge. Plus, it’s illegal. If the source is traced to you, you can be held liable.
Everytime trash and stuff is tossed from a car, eventually, it makes its way to a body of water.
One more thing: NEVER release a non-native plant or animal into a natural area, like emptying an aquarium into the lake. The results can be devastating to the natives!
It’s not nice to fool (with) Mother Nature!