Fairgrounds may be fouling creek

Runoff from the Sonoma County Fairgrounds, including the race track and animal stalls, may be contributing to pollution in nearby watersheds, according to state water quality regulators.

The problems include litter, manure and dirt entering storm drains, and are so extensive that correcting them could take years, said John Short, senior engineer for the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board.

"There are a lot of issues that need to be worked on," Short said.

Short said he is drafting a letter to County Administrator Bob Deis outlining the problems and demanding action be taken.

Deis said the issue is one for fair management: "If there is a genuine issue out there at the fair on how they operate, then they need to do something to correct it. They need to be good stewards along with the rest of us, and I'm confident they will."

The fair is a quasi-independent government agency run by directors appointed by the county board of supervisors.

Sheila Quince, the fair's interim manager, said the fair's board of directors had not been made aware of the water board's concerns.

"We certainly would work toward any resolution to make sure we complied with whatever it is we need to comply with," she said.

The water board's action comes as the city of Santa Rosa is stepping up efforts to prevent harmful substances from entering Colgan Creek, several tributaries of which border the fairgrounds.

The city is unveiling a public awareness campaign, including fliers and radio spots, aimed at getting people who live or work near the creek to think twice about where they place potentially harmful materials, such as lawn fertilizers or automotive oil.

Colgan Creek -- named for E.P. Colgan, who once owned the stagecoach stop and oldest hotel in town -- has a history of intermittent contamination.

From headwaters on Taylor Mountain, the creek flows beneath Highway 101 and through southwest Santa Rosa, before joining the Laguna de Santa Rosa east of Llano Road.

Despite passing through the populated areas of South Park and Roseland, many residents are unaware of the creek's existence.

Many motorists on Santa Rosa Avenue, for instance, don't realize they pass over the creek near the Santa Rosa Marketplace. Where the creek skirts behind Costco, however, the problems are clear.

On Thursday, discarded beer bottles, candy wrappers and signs littered the narrow waterway. Inside a tunnel, brackish water flowed around a partially submerged mattress -- possibly taken from a pile stacked in the nearby parking lot of a Colgan Avenue hotel.

Above the creek, two homeless men smoked cigarettes while lounging on a mattress tucked within the trees adjacent to an auto repair shop.

"I don't think a lot of people realize a creek is here, and if they did, they'd be, 'Ew,' " said Steve Brady, an environmental specialist for the city.

Dipping a probe into the water, Brady discovered a higher than normal level of dissolved ions and minerals that could be an indicator of sewage or pesticides.

The creek is the only one among 33 in Santa Rosa that doesn't routinely score high on survival tests in which rainbow trout are placed in water samples.

Since 2000, the creek's survival rate has ranged from 40 percent to 100 percent. Most creeks consistently score 80 percent or above. Officials say they are at a loss to explain the phenomenon. An extensive chemical analysis of the creek in 2005 failed to provide any definitive answers.

The data did suggest that whatever is causing the problems is intermittent or quickly absorbed, which makes pinpointing the source a challenge.

In 2005, three illicit discharges were discovered along the creek, including pet waste from a kennel and paint from work being done at an apartment complex.

The watershed also contains numerous contaminated soil and groundwater sites, according to the regional water board.

"We haven't identified one smoking gun," Short said. "We're taking each source and trying to control it as much as we can. The fairgrounds is one area we're looking at."

He declined to go into details about the issues the water board would like to see the fairgrounds tackle until delivery of the letter to the county, which could come within days.

Short did say, however, that inspectors observed people washing waste from horse stalls into storm drains during this summer's fair. There also were issues with litter from parking lots and sediment, he said.

"Everything is contributing to the problem," he said. "It's really in need of a look over the entire site."

Quince said the fair has taken steps over the years to be environmentally friendly. She said that includes the installation of wash racks where people can hose their animals off in a contained area that flows into the sewer system.

Storm drains also are covered during the fair, she said.

"Not even a Coke can go down there," she said.

You can reach Staff Writer Derek J. Moore at 521-5336 or derek.moore@pressdemocrat

.com.