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PHOTO BY MEGHAN ERKKINEN

DATA COLLECTION. Anthony Bozung, who has lived near Wapato Lake for 35 years, measures the clarity of the water during a volunteer training session Nov. 22. Bozung was one of several neighborhood residents who received training on how to collect data and water samples, which will be used to monitor the quality of the lake.

Wapato Lake

Local groups partner with citizens to monitor Wapato

By Meghan Erkkinen

Jennifer Julian remembers spending her free time at Wapato Lake as a child.

“When I was a little kid, my dad used to bring us down here fishing and swimming,” said Julian, who grew up in the area and has lived down the street from the lake for 11 years.

Now, Julian would not consider allowing her daughters to swim in the lake. She recalled one day last summer, when one of her daughters accidentally fell into the water.

“We rushed her home to get her cleaned off,” Julian said.

Recently, Julian and her family have been keeping up on what is happening in the lake, as the city and other organizations have begun taking a keener interest in cleaning and monitoring the water.

Julian was one of many concerned neighbors who stopped by the lake Nov. 22 to learn more about current efforts by the University of Washington-Tacoma (UWT), Metro Parks and Tacoma’s Public Works Department to keep the water clean. Now, the three organizations are recruiting concerned citizens to serve as volunteers to help them with their efforts.

Keeping Wapato Lake clean has been a challenge for several decades. The lake was dredged in 1936 in an attempt to clean the water. By 1942, the lake was closed to swimmers due to unhealthy water conditions. Since then, the city and scientists have tried a variety of methods to clean and maintain the lake.

“In the long term the most successful thing you can do is keep the contaminants out of the lake,” said Chris Burke, a senior environmental specialist with Tacoma Public Works.

One way to do that and to measure progress is to inform citizens about their role, and to engage citizens who are willing to help monitor the water quality.

That is why Metro Parks is working to organize a Friends of Wapato Lake organization, which will do water quality monitoring and collect other data, which will be analyzed by UWT scientists and passed on to the city. The city and UWT will also conduct their own studies, and all the data will be used to determine what contaminants are entering the lake and from where.

In turn, that data will be used to prioritize actions to limit the sources of contaminants in the lake and the Wapato watershed, and to prioritize treatment efforts. The data will also help scientists and the city better understand the lake and determine what goals will be achievable in the future.

“The problem of Wapato is generally the higher algae blooms and high nutrient count,” said Bridget Mason, a UWT instructional lab coordinator, who helped train prospective volunteers Nov. 22.

Elevated levels of nutrients, and notably phosphorus, lead to more algae, which depends on phosphorus to grow. Toxic algae blooms can be detrimental to the health of animals, humans and ecosystems.

Monitoring phosphorus and algae levels will help scientists and the city understand what sources are contributing to contamination, and from where.

“We need to know all the different sources of phosphorus and nutrients coming into the lake,” Burke said. “That really is the goal of this monitoring.”

That is where citizen volunteers come in. In the coming months, volunteers will collect a variety of samples to measure chlorophyll, plankton and nutrients from three different sites in the lake. Additionally, volunteers will determine the clarity of the lake, and will also note the number and types of birds, which contribute to nutrient levels. Samples will be collected twice a month.

“If you get citizens involved in caring for the lake, the health of the lake will be better,” Mason said.

Anthony Bozung was one of the area residents who decided to volunteer. He has lived near Wapato for 35 years.

“If everybody does their part, they can do a lot about the quality of the water,” he said.

As an avid boater, keeping the lake clean is of special interest for Bozung.

“I like to be in touch with the water,” he said. “It has a very calming effect, as long as it’s usable.”

Bozung was one of about 20 prospective volunteers who were trained Nov. 22, but the organizations involved always hope more people will become involved. For more information on volunteering, contact Julie Parascondola at (253) 305-1060 or juliep@tacomaparks.com or visit www.metroparkstacoma.org/friendsofwapatolake/.

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