WHAT'S HAPPENING TO NORTH POND'S WATER?

Jul 11, 2008

An Algae Bloom.

By July and August each year, summer temperatures and sunshine heat the pond's water often causing overabundant algae growth called a bloom.

Algae are plants that live in pond water all over the world. Algae form the base of a healthy pond's food pyramid. However, large blooms can cause a drop in aquatic oxygen levels that can cause stress to aquatic plants and animals.

The Lincoln Park Conservancy and Chicago Park District are working together with a professional contractor to reduce the algae bloom.

However, it should be noted that most healthy, natural ponds in the "wild" normally do not have clear water surfaces at this time of the year without human intervention.

North Pond is a 123-year-old pond and we are fighting against its natural succession. In nature, ponds have a natural "life span." They begin wide and deep, but as they mature organic matter from decaying plants and animals accumulates at the pond bottom making it shallower until, eventually, it fills in completely and becomes a marsh. Years later, it becomes a forest or a prairie.

So we fight against nature to preserve the "healthy looking" aesthetic of open, clear water even in the heat of July and August because this is what most urban dwellers expect of a pond.

Many different species of algae exist in the world and at North Pond. Like all plants, some species are easy to control and others are not. So management of algae blooms is not an exact science and it often takes time to find the right approach for a specie or the circumstance. So we appreciate your patience.

Even in the unlikely event that we are unsuccessful in treating a particular algae, algae blooms are a product of summer. When summer ends, so will the algae blooms.

In the meantime, enjoy looking for native dragonflies, turtles and other wildlife that feed off the insects attracted to the bloom mats.

For more information, please contact the Lincoln Park Conservancy office at (773) 883-7275 or e-mail Info@LPConservancy.org.