Temescal Creek runs from the Oakland hills to the Bay. It is mostly hidden under a culvert through Montclair and Rockridge but pops up around different parts of its length, including near the FROG park in the Temescal district. Temescal Creek empties into the Eastshore State Park near Shellmound in Emeryville.

Friends of Temescal Creek perform monthly monitoring of the water quality, testing the general health of the water and looking for strains of bacteria.

Two years ago, the group discovered high levels of E. coli, a bacteria that can be fatal in some strains, in a section of the creek in Montclair. The group alerted the city of Oakland, which traced the problem to multiple sewer breaks that were eventually fixed.

"It is a real success story," said John Bergstrom of Friends of Temescal Creek.

He said it is important to monitor water quality because people use the creek during the summer, especially children playing in the FROG park where the creek runs above ground.

He said water quality is a sign of the general health of the ecology around the creek.

Water samples are collected by volunteers and sent to a lab for analysis. Volunteers meet on the third Saturday of every month from 10 a.m. to noon. Contact Friends of Temescal Creek at fotc2005@yahoo.com for more information.

May is Watershed Awareness Month in California. Visit www.watershednetwork.org for information about volunteer opportunities.

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