TITLE
Recommendation to request City Manager to report within 45 days the following: 1) Does the City employ a limnologist who is responsible for on-going assessment and maintenance of the City's lakes and ponds? 2) Does the City have a comprehensive plan to manage and maintain these lakes and ponds? 3) Has the water quality and condition of these lakes and ponds been assessed and what are the results? 4) Are the configuration and management of these lakes and ponds a part of the City's storm water management program? 5) Does the City employ an avian specialist who can work with the City to develop an avian protection plan that includes a public education effort to discourage (and/or perhaps fine) visitors who feed birds at the lakes and ponds?
DISCUSSION
The City of Long Beach maintains numerous man-made fresh water lakes and ponds that are home to a variety of fish, birds and other waterfowl. These lakes and ponds have a natural life cycle, which must be monitored and attended to by qualified limnologists. These experts in lake and pond management help assure that a lake and pond is in ecological balance: a healthy, dynamic ecosystem that ages at a very slow rate, where fish and other forms of aquatic life are present and there is an absence of foul odors and algae blooms.
Limnologists assess the quality of the water in these bodies in order to determine bacteria and chemical levels and oxygen levels that may be causing algae overgrowth.
They also assess proper configuration of these bodies to decrease storm water runoff from impervious parking lot surfaces into these bodies and recommend whether or not lakes and ponds require hydrologic dredging and installation of aeration devices that increase oxygen levels and restore lakes and ponds to a healthier state.
Without proper management, lakes and ponds can develop a number of serious problems: weed and algae growth with high nutrient levels that result in sludge build-up and oxygen depletion issues such as o...
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