The fishing pond at Circle Park received some additional TLC this week as part of an ongoing effort to improve conditions overall. The pond has been the subject of public discussion before, during and since its construction about cost, appearance, river health and safety.
This week, under the direction of ERBM Parks and Facility Maintenance Manager Rod Gerloff, outside contractor Colorado Pond and Lake installed an aeration system for the pond that is expected to improve overall water quality and fish habitat.
According to representatives from Colorado Pond and Lake, “The aeration system is designed to maximize the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water. Adequate dissolved oxygen is essential to a balanced aquatic environment. Lakes and ponds with low dissolved oxygen often suffer harmful algal blooms, excessive vegetation growth, fish kills, and odor issues. Lakes and ponds receive their dissolved oxygen from diffusion from atmospheric oxygen. The aeration system will circulate the entire water column and expose the whole pond to the atmosphere periodically, resulting in the optimization of dissolved oxygen in the entire pond. Increasing dissolved oxygen in a pond through the introduction of an aeration system seeks to improve fish health, avoid seasonal fish kills, and can result in a reduction of algae and vegetation growth through the binding of phosphorus in the sediment/water interface under the right conditions.”
The aeration system is likened to the “air stones” used in home aquariums. Compressed air is delivered to diffusers on the bottom of the pond, circulating the water top to bottom and improving water quality. The system can be in operation year-round, but during the winter would result in open water/thin ice, prohibiting ice skating on the pond.
While some benefits — chemical and biological — will occur right away, “…this system is not a silver bullet for algae or vegetation growth so a significant reduction in growth will likely not be apparent in the short-term. Aeration is an important tool in lake and pond management but is just one strategy of a multi-faceted approach to maximize a pond’s health and aesthetics,” the contractor explained. Other tools for controlling algae and vegetation overgrowth include the use of EPA-approved herbicides and algaecides by certified applicators.
Aeration can help reduce the amount of chemical treatments for pond maintenance, but the contractor said the incoming nutrients from the agricultural operations upstream would play a role in how effectively aeration could reduce the need for chemical treatment.
The need for ongoing maintenance at the pond is “very common,” said the contractor. “Ponds that are high in nutrients require a multifaceted approach to achieve successful aquatic resource management. This includes the use of algaecides and herbicides, bacterial inoculations for nutrient reduction, nutrient sequestering products, and aeration. All of these strategies are being implemented in the Circle Park Pond and are very common for similar resources.
By NIKI TURNER – editor@ht1885.com
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