Dry, sunny and warm. What a combination! For months on end we had not had such a day as Monday. The bike and I made use of the conditions for a springtime tour of Albany’s Talking Water Gardens.
The City of Albany intends to maintain the constructed wetlands known as Talking Water Gardens as a place to enjoy nature even though the place no longer functions as part of the Albany and Millersburg wastewater treatment system.
As if cities like Albany don’t have enough to do, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality is proposing to list sections of the Willamette River as “impaired” by trash. This will trigger new regulations under the federal Clean Water Act, and cities likely will bear the brunt of a new mandate.
As if we couldn’t tell by looking around on these very hot days, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality on Monday issued an “air quality advisory” for the south Willamette Valley because of smog and wildfire smoke.
It’s surprising that there has been so little reaction or pushback since Oregon state rule makers on Monday went ahead with their plan to ban sales of piston-driven cars and pickups starting in 2035.
Willamette Riverkeeper, a Portland-based group, wants Oregon state environmental regulators to make rules declaring riverside trash to be in violation of the federal Clean Water Act.
Dry and drier at Talking Water Gardens
Albany’s Talking Water Gardens has been out of operation since last December, and this dry spring it really shows. The water level in the lower pond is way down, and the upper ponds are completely dry.
Tags: Albany council, Cox Creek, DEQ, Talking Water Gardens, TMDL, wastewater, water temperature