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Water Gardens update: Pump issue fixed
Water again cascades down the main fall at Talking Water Gardens on Tuesday evening, Aug. 26, 2025.
The problem that interrupted the Talking Waters pumping operation last week has been fixed, I discovered when the bike took me back to Albany’s constructed wetlands on Tuesday evening.
The city had contracted for installation of a pump and piping to take water from Cox Creek to the wetlands, which had dried up this summer under a complaint settlement with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.
By Aug. 18 the pumping had started to fill up the Water Garden ponds, but then it slowed to a trickle and stopped.
On Tuesday evening, the water was flowing again, and some of the ponds had water in them.
“It was just an issue with one of the vacuum lines on the pump,” Public Works Director Chris Bailey told me today. “It was repaired and it is working again.”
Let’s hope it stays fixed.
Meanwhile, what’s the long-term solution to the issue — leaks to surrounding waters — that has kept the Water Gardens from functioning since the city shut it down in December 2024?
When I find out, I’ll let you know. (hh)
The bridge above the waterfall is a good place for parking the bike.
Tags: Cox Creek, Water Gardens