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Organic matter, lack of rain, heat causing odour in parts of Regina’s Wascana Creek

The recent stretch of hot weather and lack of rain has caused a build-up of organic matter in Regina's Wascana Creek creating an odour. Steve Silva / Global News

There’s an odour to hard to ignore coming from parts of Wascana Creek in Regina and it’s been that way for weeks.

The City of Regina says it’s from a buildup of organic matter and a lack of rain in the recent stretch of hot weather.

Organic matter is a combination of vegetation that has died of any kind of animal droppings upstream that may be in the creek,” said Kurtis Doney, Regina’s director of water, waste and environment.

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“Anything that is basically alive at one time, like plant life is an example.”

He said the lack of rain is causing the creek to be extremely stagnant as no water is flowing through it. Doney also said there are some fish who have not survived the summer due to a lack of oxygen, adding to the smell.

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The city says it lets Mother Nature take care of these types of issues.

Wascana Creek is a very long flowing creek so it is typical where there are odours later in the summer,” Doney said. “As the rain comes, we’ll see those odours pass through.”

As for the dead fish some people are seeing in the creek, Doney said it’s best to contact the city to remove it if necessary.

Click to play video: 'Regina MLA helps pull woman, cat from Wascana Creek'
Regina MLA helps pull woman, cat from Wascana Creek

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