Waverly Lake looked more like Wavely Swamp on Oct. 11, 2022.
The sad condition of Albany’s Waverly Lake caught the attention of the mayor and city council this week, if only for a minute.
Toward the end of the regular council meeting Wednesday night, Mayor Alex Johnson II said a constituent had aked him about Waverly Lake. What was the city doing about it? That was the gist of the question.
For most of the summer, the six-acre lake in Waverly Park has been covered with a layer of algae or water weeds. The carpet of green or gray has grown, and by this week it covered most of the surface.
The parks department maintenance crew tried to pull out some of that growth in August, but it didn’t make much of a difference.
In answer to the mayor’s question, City Manager Peter Troedsson said that next year the parks department may try to aerate the lake to keep algae growth under control.
Low flow, summer heat, and nutrients in the water presumably all contribute to the proliferation of plant or algae growth in the water at Waverly.
But curiously, algae growth is much less severe in Swan Lakes just upstream on Cox Creek. The same creek feeds Swan Lakes and then flows through Waverly Park, so the current presumably is the same.
If you stand on Bain Street and look at the eastern Swan Lake, you can see an aeration sytem working near one the properties on the right bank. Maybe that makes a difference.
On West Thornton Lake in North Albany, property owners used to run aerators years ago, and that seemed to keep the surface clear.
Once the weather breaks and we get some rain, Waverly Lake will clear up on its own over the winter. But the algae will be back next summer unless City parks can figure something out. (hh)
Upstream on the same creek, the eastern Swan Lake had hardly any algae on Oct. 8, 2022.
Hasso
What is going into mega foods?
Follow the link and see your County-levied Cooperative Extension dollars at work. (Melissa Fery is a local treasure and we can certainly bring the matter to her attention.)
https://smallfarms.oregonstate.edu/out-control-algae
Or, how about trying grass straw (replacing barley straw), outlined in this Rutgers extension bulletin?
https://njaes.rutgers.edu/fs1171/
According to Amazon a 6 acre pond aerator costs about $4,400. A trifling amount to the city. Easily swatted away to “next year.”
So, given that city government has no profit incentive to manage costs, any guesses on how much the city will actually pay “next year” for the installation of a similar device?
This feels like a circa 1984 $8,000 Air force coffee maker situation.
Hopefully a civic organization will save the taxpayers from the city and make it happen, assuming another “clock” fiasco is avoided.
I, for one, am tired of Hasso’s endless photos of clocks that don’t tell the correct time and pond scum on Waverly “Lake”.
Wow Gordon, you truly are a ‘Ray of sunshine’ … NOT!
Freeway Lakes also and my sources say by not doing anything it will be worse next year.
Small lakes be damned. Ain’t this summer in October weather nice?!?!
Just a few more days…..
A truck load of barley straw will fix it.
Or simply get bids from several aerator suppliers. Let them know its a best bid process.
Looking the smaller half of Thornton Lake and the east side of Freeway Lakes, it’s not just “surface algae”. Aeration alone won’t solve the problem. Due to the lack of preventative, or any type of maintenance, there is heavy growth from top to bottom. The city/county need to hire professionals to look at these local lakes and provide an answer for remediation. Just look at the condition of our streets. This is what happens when local government turns a blind eye on issues.
Obviously you have no intention of reading the facts but here goes again:
https://www.cityofalbany.net/streets
While your “Good enough”, or “Better than it was” attitude doesn’t sit very well with those of us who expect more from our local government. Just exactly what Are we getting back from all this new development? The citizens aren’t seeing it. Maybe just the council.
From my perspective, every new person and/or family that moves to Albany and purchases a home, brings “new blood,” thinking, vibrancy, money, work, etc. That far outweighs any challenges we face with infrastructure down the the road. Which, by the way, has always been met over time…
Gordon you wont find any alternative news such as this in the DH.
personally. I find it refreshing.
Given the plethora of substantive problems we face, spending :60 seconds on the topic of algae on a pond seems about right. Definitely a First World non-issue.
Maybe you could set up your webcams and keep an eye on it.
If it doesn’t concern downtown aesthetics/amenities, apartment construction, or more policing, it’s not a priority.
Hasso, I am also interested in how long the City will allow the parking of motorhomes in the Waverly Lake lower parking lot. One at least, (possibly more,) has been parked there for several days/weeks. Park Host? We have witnessed camps like this grow in other places in the state. Hate to see it start here.
Waverly Lake was once known and promoted by a Parks and Rec Director as the gateway to Albany. Coming off the I-5, it was the jewel of Albany. Gateway needs some work!