District 9 City Council member Paula Blackmon is making waves. The newly elected councilwoman sent a memo to various city staffers July 27 calling for fiscal and political action in dredging White Rock Lake, which would essentially remove sediment and debris from the bottom of the lake.
Blackmon requested $100,000 in funding from the Park and Recreation Department to pay for a dredging feasibility study.
In the memo posted on Facebook, Blackmon says, “It has been over 20 years since White Rock Lake has been dredged. Currently the silt accumulation can be up to 7 feet thick in some locations. We are seeing more wetlands created because of this accumulation. The water quality and surrounding ecosystem are hitting critical levels. White Rock Lake is in desperate need of maintenance and care. We must act NOW to maintain White Rock Lake, and it is essential to create a thoughtful plan to care for our lake.”
The Park Board will vote Aug. 15 on the call to action. D Magazine spoke to Park Board President Bobby Abtahi, who said he does not expect much resistance to the idea.
The last time the lake was dredged was in 1998 and cost about $15 million. It is unclear how long the cleanup would take. Blackmon wrote in her memo that she “envisions this to be a 3-4 year project.”
