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Crescent Park pond concerns resident

City of Surrey says South Surrey body of water is healthy
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Aaron Hinks photo A duck floats through algae on the Crescent Park pond Saturday afternoon. A local resident about the quality of the pond.

A Crescent Beach resident worried about the health of a pond in Crescent Park has expressed a concern for future generations.

Maureen Fritz, who routinely walks the popular South Surrey park, contacted Peace Arch News last week to say the maintenance of the pond may be getting overlooked.

“The bulrushes are slowly creeping over and it will just be a cesspool of a swamp. That’s what it will be in a very short time,” she told PAN Saturday.

Although a silky algae on top of the pond has started to clear, it was the “damn ducks” that made Fritz go public with her concern.

“The day that I saw a momma going through, it was like sludge. (The ducklings) were going behind her and she was making her way through the sludge.”

Fritz acknowledged that the film may be due to the weather, but believes the bulrushes should be cut back to free up more space for the wildlife.

“The city is doing a really good job. This park is fabulous, it’s clean, it’s safe. What more could we ask for? The garbage is always taken away, no complaints. I’m just saying that I don’t know if anybody has ever thought of this.”

Fritz – who has lived in the area for 40 years – says the pond has been used by turtles and ducks for the duration of her time in South Surrey.

“It’s not about me, it’s about the future generation. It’s about my grandchildren being able to see those turtles.”

City of Surrey acting manager of parks Tim Neufeld said the city’s parks department is currently evaluating options for cutting back the bulrushes.

“The bull-rush removal process is tricky and must be timed and executed to minimized impacts on the flora and fauna that now call these ponds home and/or live downstream,” Neufeld emailed PAN.

“Longtime patrons of Crescent Park will recall large open-water ponds, however as time has marched on the forces of ‘Mother Nature’ have led to a naturalizing of the ponds by introducing bulrushes, algae and other water plants and critters into these man-made bodies of water. This is a natural process that represents a transition to a healthy ecosystem.”



About the Author: Aaron Hinks

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