Victoria Park Lake cleanup
Posted Mar 6, 2011 09:06:20 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The City of Kitchener is getting ready to clean up Victoria Park Lake, much to the relief of city residents who have long complained about its water quality.
Greg McTaggert, Manager of Infrastructure Asset Planning, tells 570 News, the project will see the entire lake drained and dredged, now that’s it’s been approved as part of the city’s 2011 budget.
He explains the purpose is to get rid of all the sediment that’s gathered on the bottom of the lake since it was last dredged fifteen years ago.
He says all that sediment has affected the lake’s water quality a great deal.
McTaggert says there’s so much sediment, in fact, the lake bottom has been raised so high, it can’t hold as much storm water run-off as it was designed to.
He says the process of draining the lake will be easy: because it’s an artificial lake, all they have to do is open up the dam that controls the water levels.
McTaggert says the Storm Water Utility fee the City brought in this year will pay for not only the Victoria Park Lake clean up, but all storm water projects for the foreseeable future.
The work should begin late-Fall or early-Winter; it’s still in the design phase for now, McTaggert explains.
He says the city doesn’t want to drain the lake in the middle of summer when the lake is used most.
McTaggert adds, the city budget also approved another water related project: some embankment stabilization near Grand River Blvd.
He says erosion at a particular spot is threatening a community trail and some private property.
McTaggert says it will be a difficult project because the site is a steep embankment and a fair distance from the nearest road, so it will be difficult to get equipment to the project.
