Aeration System to Be Used at Lake Lindero

To help fish survive in Lake Lindero this summer, the Lake Lindero Homeowners Assn. will install a new aeration system to keep oxygen flowing in the water as the weather heats up.

Hundreds of fish died in the lake in the last two summers because a large bloom of algae combined with the shallowness of the lake depleted the water of oxygen.

At the urging of some homeowners, the association installed a temporary aeration system last year, but it was too late to re-oxygenate the 14-acre lake. The association board then hired a consultant to test the water.

“This was a situation that needed to be fixed, and we found that the best way to prevent fish kills is to keep more oxygen in the lake,” said Terry Miller, association president.

Officials hope to have the new system, which injects oxygen molecules into the water at a high speed, in place by June.

Greg Feet, general manager of Golf Projects Lindero, said the system will operate only when the level of oxygen in the water dips below seven or eight parts per million, primarily during warm weather and at night.

“The algae bloom is going to stay the same [in size], but there is just going to be more oxygen left in the water for the fish after the algae steals it,” he said.

Miller and Feet declined to say how much the association is spending to install the system.

Feet said that although the system may not completely eliminate the fetid odors emanating from the lake when the algae die, the additional oxygen will probably limit the gasses being emitted.

Lakeside residents said the installation of the system is an important step toward keeping the lake in good condition.

“Certainly there are other things they can be doing, like restocking the lake,” said William Webber, a resident who each year asked the board to look into the problem. “But let me not criticize when they are doing something good.”