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The Department of Parks and Waterfront is asking a consultant to suggest ways to prevent foul smelling algae and attract more wildlife to the three lagoons at Aquatic Park. 

The City Council has approved a plan to enter into a $70,000 contract with Laurel Marcus and Associates to develop a Natural Resource Management Plan to reduce algae blooms by increasing the lagoons circulation with the bay. The consultant will also include a plan to enhance bird and other wildlife in the park, according to Waterfront manager Cliff Marchetti. 

Laurel Marcus and Associates will manage a team of environmental consultants, including water scientists and landscapers, to determine a workable plan. 

The park was developed in the 1930s during construction of Interstate 80 and consists of marshlands, lawns and pathways which wind along a large lagoon and two smaller ones. The park is on the west side of the freeway between the Ashby and University avenue exits. 

When the park was developed, concrete tubes were placed beneath the freeway to allow bay water to flow in and out of the lagoon. The five, 24-inch wide tubes that service the main lagoon were poorly placed, according Mark Liolios, a member of Friends of Aquatic Park. In addition, he said the tubes often become clogged and have to be cleared with high-pressure spray. Because of their location under the freeway, Caltrans is responsible for tube maintenance. 

“It has been historically hard to maintain good quality water because the lagoons are relatively large, isolated bodies of shallow water,” Marchetti said. 

There are several options the team of consultants will consider. They range from replacing the tubes to placing additional tubes at more strategic places. Marchetti said replacing the tubes would be extremely difficult because of their location under the freeway. There are no cost estimates for any of the possible fixes. 

The lagoon becomes susceptible to algae growth if the lagoon is not constantly refreshed with bay water. The bay provides the lagoon with cold temperatures, salt and oxygen which reduces algae growth and helps support wildlife. 

Algae blooms deplete the water of oxygen and if the lagoon does not have access to the bay, it results in the suffocation of lagoon fish, according to Liolios. 

“About four years ago, after Caltrans stopped cleaning out the tubes there was a red tide that killed hundreds of striped bass, some as big as 30 inches long,” he said. “Caltrans is now back on a regular schedule of cleaning out the tubes.” 

Another goal of the consultants will be to suggest way to attract more birds to the lagoons. Currently there a variety of birds that feed and nest around the lake. “Depending on the time of year, Ducks, egrets and Cormorants can be seen around the lagoon,” Liolios said. 

He added that one possibility to attract more birds is creating manmade islands in the lagoon that would provide nesting birds with a predator-free environment for nesting.