The southwestern end of Waverly Lake looked like this on Friday, June 27, 2025.
Unwanted plant growth in Waverly Lake is making its annual summertime comeback, and the Albany parks department will deal with the problem as it did the last two years.
The city budget for the coming biennium, which starts July 1, contains for the first time “dedicated funding” for Waverly Lake maintenance, but as far as I could find it doesn’t show a dollar amount.
The overall parks and recreation budget of $34.5 million for 2025-27 includes about $12.2 million for materials and services. I watched the parks budget presentation on May 22, twice, but no one on the city budget committee asked about the lake maintenance amount.
If memory serves, Parks Director Kim Lyddane mentioned the amount in a recent post on social media. I can’t find the post now, but in my memory it was around $20,000 a year. (If that’s wrong I expect to be corrected forthwith.)
In the last two summers, the city hired a company to deploy floating plant harvesters to scour the 9-acre lake. Each time the operation cleared the water of algae and whatever other aquatic growth had turned the surface into an unsightly mess.
On a bike ride Friday I noticed that except for patches here and there most of the lake was still clear, but the southwestern part was fairly well covered with growth.
Expect the covered area to grow in size until, later in the summer, the harvesters show up. (hh)
The view of Waverly Lake along the pathway at its western end on Friday, June 27.
What does it cost to run the water fountain every day, which was supposed to reduce/ eliminate the algae?
Hasso, if you have any influence with the city would you suggest for their consideration the dredging of the lake. I’ve written two or three times about it and how the lake used to be in the 1960s. However, I don’t expect the city to spend the money and I don’t think they give a rats behind about the lake….BUT it needs to be completely dredged and water input and outflow checked.
Simple process… Just get 4 votes on Council to effect any change(s).
$34.5 million for 2 years for park maintenance? Out of control spending at its finest!
You misread that. That number represents the entire parks and recreation budget for the next two years.
you are going to ruin his outrage
Wouldn’t it be prudent for the City to encourage algae growth in the pond. The City could then harvest the product and resell it as Spirulina. Easy money!
I knew something must fuel your comments and now we know it’s Spirulina!
If you know, you know.
might it be cheaper to have it full of algae, than a buncha humans in it, and the fuss that would create? legal issues, the cost for safety stuff would not be cheap. im sure im missing something else.
Just fill it back up with dirt/rock etc. and restore it to its original state. We don’t need any invasive ponds.