Lake to Get New Lease on Life

When 100 dead catfish floated belly up to the lily-pad-laden surface of Laguna Lake last year, Fullerton city officials knew something had to be done.

And so it shall be.

State funds totaling $2 million have been earmarked to dredge the stagnant, silt-filled 10-acre lake in an all-out effort to restore it as a pond where catfish can thrive.

The problem: a lack of oxygen.

Laguna Lake is only 2 to 3 feet deep in most places. Its waters become heated in warm weather, making it a breeding ground for bacteria that use all the oxygen in the water, suffocating the fish, said Randy McDaniel, park projects specialist for Fullerton.

“I used to fish there as a kid, and I caught fish all the time,” McDaniel said. “I fished there a year ago and didn’t catch anything.”

The lake was 15 feet deep when it was created in 1916 as a source of water for irrigating the orange groves of the Bastanchury Ranch Co.

By the time the city bought the lake and its 28.5-acre environs in 1952, erosion already had filled most of the lake with topsoil and organic matter.

The $2 million for dredging the sediment from the lake comes from Proposition 12, the Safe Neighborhood, Parks, Clean Water, Clear Air and Coastal Protection Bond Fund. It will be funneled to the city through the California Coastal Conservancy, a state agency established by the Legislature in 1976.

The preliminary project is up for discussion and a vote on distributing an initial $100,000 at a conservancy meeting Oct. 26 in Ventura.