Posted: Fri, 25 Sep 2009 01:50 PM - 8,378 Readers

By: Tiffany Young

Off Lakewood Drive, Bull Creek District Park is an oasis of trees with picturesque views of a winding creek and part of the 3.5-mile Bull Creek Greenbelt trail running through it. Since 1997, the park has been designated as an off-leash dog park area. On weekdays, the park is typically quiet, but on weekends, dogs and their owners run and play in the creek, runners and walkers can be found along the trail and, on hot days, families can be found swimming and wading through the creek.



Restoration

Recently, the City of Austin announced its plans to shut down BCDP, the only northwest Austin dog park, and one of 12 off-leash dog parks in the city, until spring 2010 to restore the park to acceptable E. coli levels.

“From a public health perspective, elevated E. coli levels in recreational waters pose an increased risk for illness for both people and their dogs,” said David Lurie, director of Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department. “Our goal is prevention, and we’ll continue to monitor and evaluate bacteria levels throughout this process to minimize the risk of illness.”

Restoration, including soil importation, re-vegetation and irrigation, would take place from November to April 2010 to allow levels in the creek to become acceptable for Texas health standards for swimming.


On- or off-leash?

Once the park reopens, the city may not allow dogs off leash, making it no longer a dog park. The reasoning being that if dogs were on a leash, dog owners would be more aware of when to scoop the poop. Picking up after dogs is already a city ordinance with a potential fine of up to $500 for violators.

As of Sept. 15, 845 residents had signed a petition against closing the off-leash dog park. The petition asks that the City of Austin keep the dog park open if there is not a mutual agreement among Bull Creek Dog Off Leash Group, the Bull Creek Foundation and the City of Austin by March 31, 2010. The city says it is looking for other locations for a dog park. However, finding another off-leash spot, especially in northwest Austin, with similar access to a creek may not be possible.

“The Watershed [Protection Department] would not agree that it would be a good idea, and would be safe for humans, to put an off-leash area immediately adjacent to a small creek where folks are going to swim,” said Chris Herrington, an engineer with the city’s Watershed Protection Department.

Bull Creek’s high bacteria levels have improved over the past year, thanks to a “Scoop the Poop” educational campaign by the city and measures taken by the Bull Creek Dog Off-leash Group. However, E. coli bacteria levels on the weekends are still higher than state standards for swimming.

Although many residents agree that the park still needs improvements, there is disagreement on whether or not the park should be primarily for dogs or for people. The 32-sq. mi. Bull Creek Watershed drains into Lake Austin, which is used by the Austin Water Utility for drinking water.

“Unfortunately, Bull Creek Park is subject to urban runoff,” said Nick Classen, an environmental engineer, self-professed “dog lover” and Northwest Austin Civic Association board member. “In my opinion, the dog park is not compatible with a stream running through it and especially one running into our water supply.”

Dogs may not be the only cause for high bacteria levels. On July 4, a sewage spill occurred upstream of the dog park. This is not the first instance, either. According to the City of Austin, in 2007, about 50,000 gallons of sewage flowed into a tributary of Bull Creek upstream of BCDP out of the wastewater collection system.Following the spill, complaints were made of children with gastrointestinal illnesses and an investigation linked the occurrences to swimming in the park.


BCDOG park improvements

About a year ago Debra Bailey volunteered to start BCDOG, which now has more than 100 members. She said statistics showing the dog park's E. coli levels are now below state recommendations (except on weekends) indicate the group's initiatives have helped.

“Clearly our group has made a difference. Why do you want to stop the only people caring for this park?” she asked at an Environmental Board Meeting late August. “Year-to-date, BCDOG has put in 803 hours of labor at this park—that’s compared to [the city’s] 462 year-to-date. We maintain and police this park to keep it a multiuse park that is clean and safe for all to use.”

The founder of the Bull Creek Foundation, Skip Cameron, agreed that BCDOG has contributed to the decreasing levels and that the park should remain a dog park.

“In the last six months, [BCDOG has] reduced E. coli bacteria in the park area underneath the state guidelines for contact recreation,” Cameron said. "Now we know by facts and figures and data what works—people committed on the ground in the park. Since the middle of 2008, [BCDOG] has been doing that job, and we should be giving them a gold star, not slapping them in the face and taking their rights of having a dog in the park away.”
Alternatives

Bull Creek Foundation and BCDOG are proposing the city adopt an initiative similar to the Boulder, Colo., method of dog guardian training, registration, rules and enforcement. Those wishing to take their dogs off-leash in Boulder must purchase tags for their dogs to wear in designated off-leash areas and must be trained on voice and sight control. Not only does this requirement ensure dog-owners know the local off-leash laws, but the city can use the money from tags purchased for park upkeep.

“We propose a next phase initiative, which is to endorse the Boulder, Colo., dog rules to give dog owners more responsibility and to add a fee of $5 to the rabies tag that would fund park rangers,” Cameron said.

He said doing so will keep things going in the right direction and solve the water pollution problem by restoring the park, keeping it off leash and allowing stakeholders to continue volunteering.


Bull Creek Dog Off Leash Group

Since its inception last summer, the Bull Creek Dog Off Leash Group has installed mutt mitt dispensers, held weekly poop patrols, installed an octagonal bench and a natural split-rail fence, and completed erosion control efforts as well as various other efforts to keep the park clean and well-maintained.

Year-to-date hours spent on park improvement

City of Austin	462
BCDOG	803

Source: BCDOG


E. coli in Bull Creek District Park

While dogs playing in the creek are believed to be a contributing factor to elevated E. coli bacteria levels, there are other factors that may be causing the high levels, such as runoff from development, baby diapers left in the creek, fertilizers from nearby residential yards and various other contributors within the watershed. Also, in July, there was a sewer spill that flowed into Bull Creek District Park.

*  Story Contributed by: Tiffany Young