Looking across the lowest pond at the Water Gardens from above the waterfall on Monday afternoon, Aug. 18, 2025.
Water has resumed flowing at Talking Water Gardens, the constructed wetlands that Albany was forced to let dry up this summer.
To settle a dispute with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality over leaks from the system of waterfalls and ponds, the city of Albany stopped running treated wastewater through the wetlands in December 2024,
The city hired a contractor to install a pump to take water from Cox Creek and pipe it into the wetlands at a rate of up to 3 cubic feet per second. The pump setup was to to be installed by now. So, I wondered, was it?
“Yes, it’s installed and working,” Operations Manager Kristin Preston told me this afternoon.
“We are still in the start-up phase, but I was just out there and observed water flowing over the main waterfall and some areas starting to pond,” she said. “We are still working out the pump schedule for the generator refueling logistics, but the plan is to have water flowing for several hours during the weekdays and less so on the weekends.”
After getting Preston’s email, I rode my bike out to the Water Gardens to take a look:
If you need a refresher on the background of this long saga, type “Talking Water Gardens” in the search field below the small ads on the right. The story is not complicated but long, and I don’t want to bore everybody by recapping the whole thing now. (hh)
Thank you for all the updates on this. I think if it hadn’t been for you this wouldn’t have gotten noticed and it still would have been dry. Keep all the posts coming. I so enjoy all of them and look forward to them every day.
Thanks, but see the next post and my reply. The city was working on this whether anybody asked about it or not.
Did your reporting on this saga move the needle, er pumps, and get things flowing again?
No, I don’t believe so. The city had plans to pump in creek water before the first time I reported on the cessation of treating water in the gardens last December.
Thank you for keeping us updated on this! We loved to walk around talking Waters. The spouse has an affinity for frogs and turtles. One birthday was themed around frog-spotting, they haven’t been able to go enjoy it since it was drained. Was a shame to see the amphibians disappear.
Thank you for this post. I went and checked it out today and it was refreshing to see the waterfall running again. It will be fun to check in day to day to watch the progress.
Yay!! Thank You for the update. I was so sad when the water stopped flowing (I wondered why). This is one of my favorite places to stroll, time away to think. It’s certainly good news for those of us that enjoy the beauty of “Talking Gardens”.