Yesterday's delivery of more than 4,000 bluegill and 1,000 minnows drew an enthusiastic throng of neighbors---to say the least. If you missed it click the link below. It's almost like being there:
On June 23rd Pine Lake welcomed the first round of fish into our brand-new lake----not counting the creek fish that had already set up housekeeping. This small delivery of approximately eight hundred catfish and grass carp and new week's large delivery will effectively restock the lake with a desirable balance of species and a balance of prey and predator.
Watch for an announcement about the big delivery this coming week. On or around June 30th a tanker truck filled with five thousand 3-4 inch fish will deposit its contents into the water.
For the half-dozen residents who watched the first delivery, this will be dramatically different. For anyone who missed the first delivery, watch it here:
As of this week our city has ten information kiosks located at various points along the wetland walk. Each kiosk features a top banner of native plants, all photographed by Dallas Denny, and a variety of additional photos submitted by other residents. On the bottom left corner is a QR code that will send smartphone users directly to this site for deeper intel about the stream and lake restoration---which is now considered a model project for other cities, civil engineers, and water management professionals to study.
So---what's the story on the algae?
The lakebed construction and redesign included a massive redistribution of dirt. As the lake ecology recalibrates we will have to continue managing algae for the rest of the summer. Stocking the lake with fish, including sterile grass carp, will be a help but the real results of fish activity won't be visible until next year.
Until then, one approach to algae mitigation is The Manual Assault Method (M'am), demonstrated below by six intrepid residents (two not in photo) who call themselves Team Sisyphus. Three hours of raking and seining resulted in a significant clearing of the algae bloom next to the canoe put-in. Dateline: 11:00 EST 6/16/12. Let's see how long those results last. Good luck Team Sis!
Special thanks to Susan Ramsey for kiosk design and Kathie Denobriga, Kris Casariego, Lynne Nygaard, and Melissa Tidwell for kiosk content and editing.
After a winter hiatus with not much activity to speak of, The Dredge Report is back for a few final postings as the lake and wetlands receive the finishing touches.
As everyone has probably noticed, the final stage of the streambank restoration project has kicked into high gear, starting with the planting of more than 150 trees (not to mention the soon-to-arrive shrubs). The installation area begins at the topmost end of the eastern wetlands and ends at the last retention pond in the western wetlands.
Megan Pulsts has a thorough description of the next steps in the current issue of PlainTalk. The project will be entirely completed by May 1st.
