$100,000 for dredging of the duck pond in Riverside

[MrsH]

I see that there is a bill that was introduced to city council on the 14th of December.   The calls for $100,000 to dredge the duck pond at Riverside park. 

[Springfielder]

Is this just an fyi, or what...you didn't say if you're for or against it

That has needed work for many years, and it's about time they're trying to do it. They need to build the little island back up too.

[Dog Walker]

The desperately need to put in a skimmer and filter system too.  Between the bread, trash and bird doo that gets into the pond it is grossly over nutrified.   The air bubblers that were put in have helped some (You no longer have to hold your nose walking by) but they are not sufficient by themselves.

When the park was founded there was a natural spring that kept the pond refreshed, but it has been gone a long, long time.

The last "renovation" of the pond was done on the cheap, according to a park supervisor and instead of lining the pond with a membrane, they used clay and sand for the bottom which makes it nearly impossible to clean.  It is only about three feet deep at most so there isn't enough water for natural processes to keep the water clean.

$100,000 sounds like a stop-gap amount to me; not enough to put in liner, pumps and skimmers, but in this tight budget times I guess we should be happy that something is being done at all.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

Typically when something is 'dredged' it is made wider and/or deeper.  So maybe they're adding capacity to the pond to allow for some of the things you mentioned. 

[Ernest Street]

DW, maybe I passed this onto you or Joan before, but during a concert last year I chatted with an elderly gentleman and his wife.
He couldn't believe so many birds roosted on the tiny Island!! Where did the Cranes come from!?!
Anyway,he told me his relative worked for the city for many years and had to wade into the pond to replace "Water pumps"on several occasions. He found them missing sometimes with the plumbing also gone?  I guess there used to be more than Air pumps there.
we won't even go into the desperation involved in stealing a submerged pump. ..did the thieves leave the pond electrified? and with new exciting hairstyles?  

[Ocklawaha]

Swan boats anyone?

OCKLAWAHA

[Noone]

The ord.is 2010-902

[Ocklawaha]

Typically when something is 'dredged' it is made wider and/or deeper.  So maybe they're adding capacity to the pond to allow for some of the things you mentioned. 

Maybe, but consider the effects of 100 years of duck shit.

OCKLAWAHA

[Ernest Street]

OK.,.OCK told it like it is. This pond is like a soup of bird feces. It's green and shoud be cleaner and wider.

The Japanese type cranes have decided to stay here..they keep coming over my yard as a force.
they have added to the stress of this pond,and  are battling the native birds for space

[MrsH]

I don't know enough about the project to form an opinion. Dredging is the term that is used in the bill.

The bills says that the purpose is:

Section 3. Purpose. The purpose of the appropriation in Section 1 is to fund the remediation of sediment and its associated adverse environmental impacts from the Riverside Park duck pond to improve water quality in the pond and reduce or eliminate adverse impacts from the pond’s stormwater runoff into the City’s stormwater management system. Reduction or elimination of the sediment will improve water quality flowing from the pond and into the stormwater system. This will assist the City in meeting state and federal requirements pertaining to total maximum daily loading of pollutants in the stormwater system and assist the City in complying with regulatory requirements in the City’s stormwater treatment and discharge permit.


The pond has been redone since it was built in 1897.  I know that it was redone in the 1990's.  I found an article on it but didn't bookmark it and can't find it now....go figure!  From what I can recall from the article, the pond had a concrete basin but I don't know if that it still the case.  I agree that the little island looks pretty sad but if sediment is an issue then maybe it isn't such a great idea to replace it.  Part of the sediment that is listed as an issue in the bill, had to have come from the little island and obviously there is fecal matter and trash at the bottom too. 

[Jumpinjack]

Ernest, my friend, could you be referring to our native white ibis? Last year Dr. Wood made a video of the birds some 200 plus strong spending their night at the pond. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcqerqXXWNo
They are really a graceful sight to see as the daylight fades and they come swooping in.

I've also been watching flights of Canada geese come into the area in the early morning hours.

Considering how much public use this park gets, very little money is spent on pond maintenance. There is never a day that parents and kids are not crowded around feeding the ducks or watching the birds.

Some of us have recommended that the City should consult with the Jax zoo technicians or the St. Augustine Alligator Farm staff who have done a fine job of managing their water fowl roosting areas.

[north miami]

"Cedar River Club (the 'Duck club') "....disregard earlier NM post-I thought the subject was the Duck Pond/San Juan Ave.



N.M.

[RiversideLoki]

Between the bread, trash and bird doo

...dead cats, drug needles, empty cans of steel reserve, carcasses of chicks eaten by the turtles, used condoms, batteries, and shopping carts...

[Jason]

IMO, the island needs to go and be replaced with a fountain similar to that of Lake Eola in Orlando.  That would eliminate the need ofr more costly treatment systems and limit the bird roosting while maintaining the quaintness.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

Or turn the island into a plastic tree paradise and install water 'cannons' around the perimeter of the fence so all the 'kids and families' can take turns dumping thier .50 in the meter and blast all the bird poop off!!

You end up with a win-win for everyone.