Southern Oregon is heading into year three of restoration along Bear Creek after the 2020 Labor Day fires.

Besides seeing plants and animals return along the greenways across Phoenix and Talent, you may also see foam that forms in the water a day or two after it rains.

“Natural foam is caused by plants decomposing," said Amie Siedlecki, natural resource coordinator for the Rogue Valley Council of Governments. "We are in the winter months and those plants aren’t growing at the same rates as they do in the spring and summer. These oils that are coming off of the plants mixing in with the water and hitting rocks cause this foam to appear."

Siedlecki said the foam in Bear Creek will be no more than a foot high and will have a brownish-yellow color to it.

She added if another type of foam appears in Bear Creek, it could be from soap or other toxins. Typically, the toxic foam will have a smell to it not associated with the natural foam.

“So what you could do is go to the Oregon Emergency Response System and you can alert them or you can alert the Department of Environmental Quality plus you can alert RVCOG about the issue as well,” Siedlecki said.

Siedlecki says heavy rains will cause turbid events in the creek. Turbidity is caused by particles and algae forming in the water, which is part of the natural system.

“Along with turbid events, we can also see extra trash flowing into the creek that has been left on the banks or in areas where it could flow into storm drains,” Siedlecki said.