WhatDoYouWant

What Do YOU Want to be Accomplished ?

Please take part in this survey whether you live within the city limits or not.

This is just an advisory vote, but is important in helping officials to make informed and considered opinions.

There are many who enjoy this lake and park from other areas as well. The results will be sent to the Park Board and anyone else who might care enough to do what YOU want.

The Bath house will be opened after a complete renovation sometime in the month of October 2007. This information comes from a phone call to the Parks Dept and the foreman on site.

The purpose for this bathhouse is to furnish restrooms, boat rentals, etc. and eventually concessions stands.

This lake is polluted enough at this time so that it is cannot be used for swimming or fishing.

The Summary of the consultant's report of August 2007 suggests the following action.

1. Historical and recent data indicate that the principal cause for the recent high TP concentrations and algal abundance in Wapato Lake is internal loading of P from bottom sediments.

2. To reduce internal loading, an alum treatment or dredging followed by alum is recommended, with dose based on the analysis of sediment cores. Thorough monitoring of lake conditions should be carried out to determine the effectiveness of the treatment.

3. Dilution is not recommended at this time, because of its greater cost than alum. If alum is not as effective as expected, dilution will be reconsidered along with periodic maintenance alum treatments.

4. Other management activities such as stormwater runoff management (including Best Management Practices and Low Impact Design for redevelopment), waterfowl control, shoreline vegetation enhancement, and increasing shading of the lake are encouraged to proceed as incremental steps toward a holistic lake management program.

Wapato Lake is now polluted enough that it cannot be used for swimming, fishing or boating.

1. Wapato Lake should be cleaned up and made available for:

Wapato is about 11.5 feet at the deepest spot and a little less than 5 feet on average.

If left alone it will dry up in another hundred years or so.

2.Should it be allowed to dry up?

3.If the Answer to #2 is Yes, should they build a 50 meter pool to compensate?

4.Should Wapato be treated with Alum as soon as possible at a cost of $208,000?

This will possibly allow the lake to be clean enough to swim in for 5 years to 10 years.

This may allow more time to obtain funding for cleaning the bottom; resolve the water levels, the inflow and outflow problem with the idea that the complete restoration of the lake will be accomplished within a strict time period.

5. If only treated with Alum now, how long should it take to accomplish the rest of the recommendations to completely clean up the lake?

6.If only treated with Alum now, should the walkway be completed around the lake as soon as possible or use asphalt now and repair and smooth the current asphalt?

7. Should the lake be cleaned of all pollution, the inflow from storm sewers be filtered and all of the recommendations of the consultant be accomplished as soon as possible?

8. Should the state and city be required to filter the pollutants out of the storm water coming into the lake?

While remodeling the J C Pennies store at the Tacoma Mall in the past, (Possibly as far back as 1986--TNT 10-10-1985.) A sewer line servicing up to 15 fixtures was crossed over into a storm water line along with another sewer line that no one, at this point, knows what it services.

This allowed the dumping of raw human sewage directly into Wapato Lake. This 2nd line serviced other areas at the mall as well, but the extent of them could not be determined. City Sewer inspectors did not catch this problem and it was just recently fixed. Partially, because of the design of the dike and the outflow system, much of this pollution has transferred from the retention pond over into the main lake these past twenty one years, thus adding substantially to the negative results of the consultants study.

9. Should whoever is responsible be required to pay for a portion of the cleanup of Wapato to mitigate the dumping of raw sewage into the lake?

10.Should the State Department of Ecology get officially involved in this matter and conduct a full investigation or should it be a disinterested third party?

The State of Washington puts a large amount of I-5 storm water runoff into Wapato Lake's retention pond and they have allocated $350,000 to be used for Wapato Lake..

I was concerned when a city official made comments ( TNT--July 6, 2007) to the effect that as long as the mall acted so quickly in repairing the sewer problem, there were no thoughts of any fines or repercussions. Well, that's all well and good for them to say, but is this just a Deja Vu of earlier days when a tavern was burnt down here in Pierce County because of a lot of back room handshaking, back slapping and covering each others fanny. We don't need any more of that. And the only way to make sure it does not or has not happened is to have a full investigation of the facts. That crossed over pipe had a much larger effect than just fixing the pipe.

Yes, it could be partially the mall's fault, but what about the city sewer department. Don't they issue permits that need to be inspected by city inspectors or do contractors inspect their own jobs?

Please click on the SUBMIT BUTTON at the bottom FOR YOUR VOTE TO COUNT

Privacy concerns:

Your information will not be given or sold to anyone for any purpose.

This site is strictly to have our lake returned to us.

You will be contacted by email or phone of any updates.

11.Are there any additional comments or suggestions you may have?

What is your zip code?

What is your email address?

If you received this questionaire by mail and do not have email please give us your phone number for updates.

To reset all your answers click on the reset button

To Submit your answers Click on the Submit Button ..

Additional copyrights apply as indicated on individual pages.

Updates by Wally Giffin

Site established on Oct. 15, 2007

This Site Brought to YOU by

Wally and Jennifer Giffin

Black River Falls Band and

Go Out Dancing?

Check Out the

NorthWest Live Music Scene Newsletter at

www.blackriverfallsband.com to find out where the good dance bands are working in the Seattle-Tacoma area..

12.Should the goose population be humanely reduced to an acceptable level for the size of the lake?