SAN ANTONIO — Sandra says she usually likes to get out of her office and walk along the San Pedro Creek Culture Park, but not lately.
"I don't know what death smells like, but it's pretty close. It's very, like, dead fish," Sandra said of the smell that's been lingering in the area near North Santa Rosa and West Martin for days.
Sandra added: "It's very beautiful to walk down here. However, the smell is so bad that I just don't want to come down here. The water just has a bad stench."
Meanwhile, Sandy Eisenmann, who is visiting San Antonio from Illinois, found the area to be a delight as she walked from Cesar Chavez to the north end of the creek.
"It's a beautiful, clean, calm environment, a really, really nice place to just take a stroll," Sandy said. "We're in downtown San Antonio and yet it seems so calm and some of it's because of the flowers and the vegetation and the water features. It just is a really, really serene place in the middle of a downtown."
A spokesman for the San Antonio Water System confirmed some of the lingering smell might be due to a recent private property sewage problem at a nearby apartment complex.
Although the spill on private property was cleaned up, they were able to verify that the issue had been taken care of and the discharge has been stopped before it reached the creek.
Marveling at the Plaza de Fundación,which includes water features and the "Rain from the Heavens" public art installment, Eisenmann said she absolutely would recommend the site to friends. "Yes, absolutely. Anybody that's going to visit here should take a stroll down this way."
While the reach is naturally beautiful, managing the resource as a natural creekway has its challenges.
A San Antonio River Authority (SARA) spokesman said water recirculates through a flood control tunnel so they have to balance moving water during times of drought and always being prepared to deal with stormwater events.
Because it is a natural creek, algae growth can be a factor. The spokesman said "Given times of drought the water may be green due to a higher concentration of nutrients in the water column," adding that "Staff periodically clean the wading area just south of the tunnel inlet (Rain of Heavens), and they are scheduled to be cleaned this week again, but during summer months there will be times when we see algae growth and a greener water tint."
While designed for human interaction, signs posted in the area clearly state visitors should wade in the water at their own risk because the water has not been chlorinated. Swimming is not permitted by city code and signage indicates the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that some people and animals might be impacted by strains of E. coli in the water.
Eisenmann also said she noticed the north reach of the creek seemed to be somewhat barren when compared to reaches farther south.
The SARA spokesman said they are constantly learning what landscaping works best in the urban environment. " We have had several species that have declined over the years since installation, primarily Silver Ponyfoot and Straggler Daisy. Both species are scheduled to be replaced in the early spring with other species that have done well in this area," and they added "we have added numerous aquatic plants to help the water quality and nutrient uptake for these areas."
More information about the history and future of the project can be found on their website.