As seen from the Salem Avenue sidewalk, a work boat is out on Waverly Lake on Thursday, March 7, 2024.
Thursday’s bike ride took me to Waverly Lake to see if by chance this was the day that work resumed on keeping the lake free of summertime algae. And sure enough, it was.
Two people from Aquatic Harvesting LLC were scooting around the lake on a pontoon boat. As near as I could tell, they were circling the lake checking on locations marked by red buoys.
Aquatic Harvesting is the firm hired by the Albany Parks and Recreation Department to clear the lake of unsightly algae blooms that proliferated in recent summers.
Last summer, the company scooped up tons of the growth with a couple of floating skimmers or dredge-like machines and disposed of the material in a corner behind the dog park at Timber Linn Park.
The next step was to install 12 aerators and a fountain, a move intended to keep the water clear in coming years when the weather gets warm. Other commitments kept the firm from completing the job until now.
Last year’s crew was from Washington. On Thursday, two pickups parked at the lake, one bearing the Aquatic Harvesting name, were based in California.
Parks Director Kim Lyddane confirmed what I saw Thursday.
“You are right that the contractor is out there,” she wrote in an email. “It is the same one as before. They do work all up and down the West Coast. Apparently after they finish with us, they are headed to another job in northern Washington. They are working on installing the aeration system as well as the fountain. I expect they will be done by the weekend.”
The parks department previously prepared electrical connections to power the aeration pumps.
The city council originally authorized $60,000 for the Waverly algae removal, but it is costing more.
The cost will be closer to $73,000, according to Lyddane. One reason is that the lake harvesting last August took longer than expected. “Additionally, we opted for a slightly nicer fountain.” (hh)
Two crew members from Aquatic Harvesting maneuver around Waverly Lake on a pontoon boat Thursday.
The story has been edited to add information about the project’s cost.
Hope it works and saves the lake from the algae.
Question Hasso, Is the added expense something that no one could have known about or did the price of the products simply increase over time? These folks have been sitting on their hands for months.If the price increased in the time they were sitting on their hands it shouldn’t be city taxpayers who foot the bill
Good question! How much of it is the “…slightly nicer fountain.”
shrinkflation. the size of the fountain included in the deal was smaller than expected.
If true, that shows another City Dept. that doesn’t know what it’s doing. Who hires these people?
#1 – Thank you so much for this forum of your adventures in Linn County!
For a long time as an observer, I miss the days of the ‘Big Duck’, paddle boat rentals, and folks swimming/tubing of yesteryear in this wonderful pond, and now it is an unhealthy algae-zone(?).
Mitigating the expanding population of “brown trout” in Waverly Lake might be worth whatever cost the clueless Council forces us to pay.
https://eutrophix.com/guide/