Kayaking Up Sewer Creek with a Paddle

Starkly contrasting muddy water from Robinson Bayou mixing with dark natural colored waters of Dog River.

Further upstream in Robinson Bayou the poopy tan colored water contrasts with the dark waters coming from another drainage ditch.

Further research into the muddy water of Robinson Bayou revealed the poopy colored muddy water was not related to the sewage overflow. Here I am kayaking up poop creek (Robinson Bayou) with a paddle. Phew!

Yeah, this is known as a sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) related to a typical heavy rain which Mobile gets about every month if not several times a month. There is nothing sanitary about sewage overflows into public waterways. SSOs jeopardize public health for those living along Mobile's sewage polluted waterways which seems to involve every watershed in Mobile. 

I found the source of the muddy water polluting Robinson Bayou and Dog River. Those drainage pipes under Rosedale Road lead to Brookley Airport which is owned by Mobile Airport Authority. Despite many complaints to ADEM, Construction at Mobile Airport Authority (Brookley) has been polluting Robinson Bayou and Dog River with muddy water sediment and silt erosion for the last three years. 

Upper Robinson Bayou has so filled in with eroded dirt from construction at Brookley that the only time I can paddle up it anymore is when it is raining. Other times upper Robinson Bayou is too shallow to kayak. A decade ago it was easy to kayak to Rosedale Road.