What started as a plan to tidy up the Crescent Park Serpentine ended up being a repair job in the park.

"We have three storm drains that empty into the Serpentine. So we get a lot of and sand and silt from the streets as well as just the leaf litter from the park. We have to come up with a plan on being able to clean all that out," explained Parks Supervisor Daily Lennox. "In the past years we thought we were maybe able to do this in the winter when it's semi frozen, but we also have issues with not being able to control the water."

Turns out, the valve on the southeast end of the Serpentine was broken and needed to be replaced, which the City is working on now.

"So the work that's going on right now is at the one end - I'm going to call it the Nat end of the 'Serp' - that valve last year sprung a leak where it was constantly leaking," Lennox said. "So now we have to fix that valve so we can, when needed, be able empty the 'Serp.'"

The work was supposed to be completed Friday, but due to the recent rainfall causing the Serpentine to fill despite all the damming, workers have to wait until the area is dry to complete the necessary concrete repairs.

If weather permits, crews should be able to pump the water out this weekend, begin the repairs sometime mid-week, and have the water levels back to normal sometime mid-June.

This won't be the end of the work though, as they have to replace a broken valve that controls water from Happy Valley and then complete a cleaning of the creek bottom. The entire project is expected to take a couple of years and will be worked on little by little until completion.