A lot of on the ground science! Groundwater wells were installed across the valley and instream gages were installed along over 2 miles of Gold Creek. These monitoring locations collected water level data at 15-minute intervals over the course of two years. Engineers with Natural Systems Design, a firm that specializes in stream restoration, analyzed the data. The data showed that water up-valley from Gold Creek Pond was moving away from the creek and towards the pond rather than staying in Gold Creek.
You can click the image on the left for a more detailed look at how water is moving through Gold Creek above and below the pond.