Laguna Lake Set for $2-Million Repair Project

As a teenager, Richard Juarez fondly recalls, he often walked the railroad tracks from his La Habra home to Fullerton, pole and bait box in hand, to fish in Laguna Lake.

In the 10 years he has been fishing there, he has noticed a difference. The once-clean lake keeps getting blacker. And the fishing worse. The lake is so contaminated, many fish have died.

“It’s too bad, because there aren’t many places to fish around here,” he said.

Residents in the hills around the lake share his concern. So do officials at the state Department of Fish and Game. That is why 7-acre Laguna Lake, a beloved gathering spot in Fullerton’s northern hills, is getting a $2-million renovation.

A Long Beach consultant has been hired to advise the city, which owns the lake, on what needs to be done. But the concern goes beyond dead fish.

A staff report to the City Council said “significant amounts of contamination” from Laguna Lake are reaching coastal waters. The lake feeds into Brea and Coyote creeks, which run to the ocean via the San Gabriel River.

Runoff from surrounding hills results in much of the lake’s contamination, bringing with it street and car oil and fertilizer from lawns.

Sometimes, said Margie Hansen, who takes daily walks around the lake, she can see grease on the surface. It is a sad turn for the place where Hansen has met many of her closest friends during walks. The lake regulars even have pet names for the wildlife.

“There’s George the old goose with the hump on his head,” Hansen said, “and Pity Old Gus, and Sorry--he’s a blind duck, but he knows our voices and comes running.”

But the waterfowl bring their own contamination. Laguna Lake is overrun by hundreds of ducks and geese, far too many for the lake’s size, creating high bacteria levels. They roam in gaggles so freely that they often stop traffic on surrounding streets. On top of that, the lake has never had an adequate filtering system or good water circulation.

Benches dot the edge of the lake, set in 28-acre Laguna Lake Park. There’s a picnic area and a trail ringing the lake, used by walkers, bicyclists and horse riders. No swimming or wading is permitted, and the park closes at dusk.

“We don’t want to change what’s there for the public,” said Randy McDaniel, the city’s park project specialist. “We just want to make it better.”

The city will hold a public hearing at the lake at 10 a.m. June 9.

“The consultant will tell people what some of the solutions are, but we also want the public’s input on what we should be doing for the lake. Bring your own chair,” McDaniel said.

Hansen is ready with her thoughts: “Keep it natural,” she said. “We don’t have many spots of nature left in this county.”

Of course, Laguna Lake was never strictly natural. It was born as a small man-made livestock pond near the turn of the century. In 1916, it was enlarged to impound water from Brea Creek for irrigation of citrus groves. The city bought the property in 1952 to turn into a fishing spot. By 1955, the lake was stocked with largemouth bass, bullheads and golden shiners. Later, bluegill and rainbow trout were added. Sometime in the last decade, homeowners added koi, which are now abundant.

In the early years, the fish fed on crayfish in the vegetation that lined the lake, McDaniel said. But most of that vegetation is long gone, replaced by a concrete wall around much of the lake. An old city report recommended dredging the lake, but city officials say there is no record that it was ever done.

The lake was once about 25 feet deep. Now, officials say, it’s so filled with silt that a person could wade across it. That means a lack of oxygen for the fish, McDaniel said.

About three years ago, residents of the North Fullerton Homeowners Assn. pushed for ways to save the dying lake.

Homeowners Group Fights for Lake

“At first we didn’t get much encouragement from the city,” said Catherine Lancaster, head of the homeowners group. “The city’s budget was too strapped for even everyday problems, like fixing potholes.”

But the fish deaths caught the attention of state Fish and Game officials in 1999. They found high levels of contamination at the lake. That, combined with community concern, led the city to seek money from the state Coastal Conservancy. Thanks to a bill by state Sen. Dick Ackerman (R-Irvine), the conservancy provided $2 million for the lake’s rehabilitation.

A report from the consulting firm Moffatt & Nichols is due in October, but the city already has some idea of what needs to be done: Create a filtering system to redirect runoff. Reduce the wildlife population to a manageable level. Restore the shoreline greenery. Improve the lake’s circulation system for better aeration. Remove the contaminated sediment.

That means closing off the lake for three months while the bottom is dredged. The neighborhood seems to be all for it.

Melissa Underwood, who walks her dog at the lake regularly, said she first went there with her kindergarten class from nearby Hermosa Elementary School. It’s a good feeling, she said, that she still sees single-file groups of schoolchildren on jaunts to the lake.

“My father comes with us, but he just enjoys sitting on the bank and gazing at the water,” she said.

Joan McCabe and her daughter Kelly said they take their daily walks at the lake specifically because they love feeding the ducks. They plan to be at the June 9 hearing to recommend that the city restore some of the ducks’ nesting places. But the Fish and Game Department recommends that the city prohibit feeding the ducks at Laguna Lake, so it’s likely to be a hot topic.