As evidenced by this picture, taken August 7th, water is back in the upstream section of the Creek alongside Bol Park, but the surface is dry by the time the Creek passes under the Tippawingo bridge.
Matadero Creek near Bol Park, August 7, 2012
The flow of water in Matadero Creek normally falls off during the summer months as runoff from rains up in the hills vanishes and natural springs dry up. Yet, in recent years, as Matadero Creek winds its way through the Barron Park neighborhood, water flow has been visible even during the summer months.
This year the water level has been particularly low. On top of this, several residents reported a sudden, overnight drop in the water level at the end of June. So, the questions are: Â in these dry months, why is there any flow at all in Matadero Creek: and why was there a sudden drop in the water level?
The answer to the first question is that water is continually discharged into the Creek from five separate treatment systems in the Research Park. These pumping stations have been operating for over a decade, as part of the program to clean up the underground contamination caused by years of leaks into the subsurface from underground tanks that held chemical solvents. The tanks were removed long ago, but the contamination they caused remains.