(By Laurie Marion)

Today presented an opportunity to see the intermittent streams located in the Briarlake Forest. Focusing only on the 15-acre parcel, I found four intermittent streams. The largest one runs behind the properties on Blackwood Road. The streambed along the back of these properties shows some erosion due to waters running fairly swiftly during storms. Here is a video documenting the stream that parallels Blackwood Road:

The second intermittent stream I found is also fairly large, and runs from somewhere above the large dead tree that is lying at the top of the bulldozer path that bisects the property north to south, along the center of the property to a culvert that runs beneath Amberwood Drive to the northern section of the forest. Again, I found areas where the streambed has eroded from the swiftly flowing water.

The third intermittent stream I found runs from the center of the forest towards Castleway Lane and flows into a culvert that crosses beneath Amberwood Drive at the intersection with Castleway Lane and continues beneath a property on Castleway Lane. Until recently a sinkhole was apparent on the property. DeKalb County workers have filled in the sinkhole with dirt and covered it with new sod, but water still collects in the area.

The fourth intermittent stream I found also runs towards Castleway Lane. This one starts from the bulldozer path that parallels Blackwood Road and runs through the forest towards the first house to the east of the forest on Castleway Lane, and ends in an English ivy patch, where it cascades into the gutter on Castleway Lane.