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Yeah, it's pretty bad. I also noticed that 2 of 5 lagoon tests are currently showing as red (avoid human contact).
Just to put some ideas out there, it does seem like the lagoon needs to be managed. The root cause of algae is typically poor water quality (e.g. dissolved solids, high nitrogen and phosphates). Just adding dye to poor quality water is a temp fix at best, and with so much algae in the water would lead to a die-off and then a stinky anaerobic mess in the lagoons. The question is: was the water added to the lagoons worse quality this year due to outflows near the intake pipe? Is there a new sewage leak somewhere? And perhaps it's time to try to filter or aerate the lagoon water to help it stay healthy? It wouldn't be that hard as now it seems like the city is going to have to scoop algae up constantly.
These are photos at lagoon #3 taken 6/18/17. The algae growth is out of control. It does not help that Public Works, who is responsible for Scout Park, does not maintain the area and plant matter is allowed to fall into the water and decompose.
The Alameda West Lagoon Homeowners Association is responsible for lagoon maintenance, but may be way in over their head. Maybe it is time to escalate to county or state resources on the water pollution and threat to wild life in the lagoon system. Essentially lagoon #3 and Scout Park have been abandoned by the City of Alameda.
Alameda West Lagoon Home Owners' Association
301 Balboa Court
Alameda, CA 94501
Phone: (510) 769-6357
Name: Chad Kassirer
Job Title: Chief Executive Officer
It's really sad — we saw somebody out dumping/spraying chemicals in the lagoon. Probably something to destroy the algae, but what kind of crap were they dumping in our local ecosystem? Can't this actually be managed from an ecological perspective? It was sad to see the egrets hanging out nearby, wondering what was happening to their water supply....
Overwhelming stench from lagoon #3 today. The debris is sickening. Lowering the water and not cleaning out the debris will not help the algae problem. It will just reconstitute when the water is returned. Where does the polluted go when the lagoons are lowered? In the Bay? Where is Public Works on this?
20 Comments
City of Alameda (Verified Official)
Acknowledged City of Alameda (Verified Official)
MC (Registered User)
MC (Registered User)
City of Alameda (Verified Official)
Closed City of Alameda (Verified Official)
Reopened MC (Registered User)
Still lots of algae and scum. And the midges are horrible because of it. We can't even keep our windows open.
Acknowledged City of Alameda (Verified Official)
City of Alameda (Verified Official)
MC (Registered User)
MC (Registered User)
djw (Registered User)
Devon Park (Registered User)
MC (Registered User)
David (Registered User)
Yeah, it's pretty bad. I also noticed that 2 of 5 lagoon tests are currently showing as red (avoid human contact).
Just to put some ideas out there, it does seem like the lagoon needs to be managed. The root cause of algae is typically poor water quality (e.g. dissolved solids, high nitrogen and phosphates). Just adding dye to poor quality water is a temp fix at best, and with so much algae in the water would lead to a die-off and then a stinky anaerobic mess in the lagoons. The question is: was the water added to the lagoons worse quality this year due to outflows near the intake pipe? Is there a new sewage leak somewhere? And perhaps it's time to try to filter or aerate the lagoon water to help it stay healthy? It wouldn't be that hard as now it seems like the city is going to have to scoop algae up constantly.
MH (Registered User)
The Alameda West Lagoon Homeowners Association is responsible for lagoon maintenance, but may be way in over their head. Maybe it is time to escalate to county or state resources on the water pollution and threat to wild life in the lagoon system. Essentially lagoon #3 and Scout Park have been abandoned by the City of Alameda.
MH (Registered User)
301 Balboa Court
Alameda, CA 94501
Phone: (510) 769-6357
Name: Chad Kassirer
Job Title: Chief Executive Officer
djw (Registered User)
MH (Registered User)
Closed City of Alameda (Verified Official)