Shutting Off Water to Riverwalk Hurts Lake Elsinore Ecology

The City of Lake Elsinore was forced to close the lake recently due to Harmful Algal Blooms and have issued an ongoing Public Health Advisory against waterbody contact. Developing a healthy aquatic ecosystem is key to restoring Lake Elsinore and micro-organisms are the foundation for reducing algae biomass and supporting a robust sport fishery. Below is a weblink to a good article on the benefits of zooplankton to a lake.

Zooplankton - A Lake's Best Friend.

The City of Lake Elsinore is now proposing to kill the major source of beneficial zooplankton to Lake Elsinore by shutting off the water to the Downtown Riverwalk. Below is a weblink to City Manager Yates Staff Report to divert water away from the Riverwalk and into a drainage pipe to kill most of the aquatic vegetation in the Riverwalk channel.

City Manager Yates Staff Report

What the bureaucrats don't know is that the Riverwalk Channel is the source for almost all the reproduction of large bodied zooplankton that are a benefit to Lake Elsinore. As the lake-level drops the salt content increases. Although the beneficial zooplankton can live under the higher salt concentration, they cannot reproduce. The freshwater and vegetation in the Downtown Riverwalk channel is an ideal environment to produce millions of beneficial zooplankton to replenish the Lake. The City's proposal to kill this source of beneficial zooplankton is foolish and counter-productive to restoring Lake Elsinore.

Pat Kilroy, 25 year resident

Retired Director of Lake Elsinore Aquatic Resources Department