Berkeley officials are studying a plan to improve circulation in the stagnant lagoons of Aquatic Park. They say the stale water kills fish, increases algae growth, and gives the park a distinctive odor that you can enjoy when you’re speeding past on I-80. But environmentalists fear the plan will increase storm water runoff, killing fish and degrading the environment in one of the Bay Area’s most important waterbird habitats.

Aquatic Park is Berkeley’s largest city park, stretching along the western shoreline from Ashby Avenue to one block shy of University Avenue. The majority of the park is underwater, consisting of three man-made lagoons cut off from the bay eighty years ago by the construction of what is now the freeway. Their only outlets to the bay are a few aging and badly designed tide tubes that run under the freeway.

The lagoons host fish and invertebrates that feed a variety of visiting or permanent waterbirds. The park is one of the nicest places to bird-watch in Berkeley, and is a popular destination for kayaking, biking, and disc golf. But when it rains, the shoreline park becomes the last stop on the way to the bay for a hefty portion of the city’s storm water runoff, which carries with it chemical pollutants as well as trash.

So Berkeley has begun an ambitious year-long project to look at possible changes to the park. Because a major component of the plan will likely include changes to the park’s two main storm drains, elected officials and environmentalists talk about the plan in terms of moving more storm water off city streets. These drains currently carry the city’s runoff to the bay and dump storm water into the lagoons when they get too full. Meanwhile, the project’s official goals don’t mention flood control and are restoring the natural habitat, enhancing the park’s appearance, and improving water quality by increasing circulation with the bay.

But critics believe the costs of improved tidal circulation outweigh the benefits. “Almost any project that could be used to increase the tidal exchange with the bay could also be used to dump more storm water into the lagoons,” said Golden Gate Audubon Society board member Phil Price, a former member of the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission.

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learn more about the park from Aquatic Park EGRET

or just look at more pretty bird pictures

Finally, what the city is up to: The Aquatic Park Improvement Program