Residents asked to avoid contact with Shunganunga Creek

Because water from the city’s sanitary sewer system may have gotten into Shunganunga Creek, Topeka’s city government is asking residents to avoid contact with that creek from S.W. Washburn Avenue west to the point where it enters the Kansas River.

Residents are also advised to keep pets out of that creek, said Molly Hadfield, the city’s media relations coordinator.

“This issue is due to recent heavy rain events and a mechanical issue at one of our pump stations in Central Park,” Hadfield said. “The stormwater infrastructure has been struggling to handle the excess water from recent rain events and saturated soils, known as inflow and infiltration, in the sanitary sewer system. This excess stormwater combined with sanitary flows may be causing areas of the system to overflow into the Shunganunga Creek.”