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Lake Description

What is Lake Merritt?

Our Watershed

Wildlife

History

Detailed Evaluations

Detailed Evaluations

A Year in the Life of Lake Merritt

Water Level and Tidal Flows
This document discusses the historical and present level of tidal control, and the implications for the Lake. Recommendations for improvement are presented.

Oxygen Paper
Information on Oxygen Paper and how it affects Lake Merritt. In May of 1999 the US Environmental Protection Agency listed Lake Merritt as a body of water whose beneficial uses were impaired by low levels of dissolved oxygen. This white paper provides information on: Why oxygen is important to the Lake; Why the Lake was listed; and What can be done to improve the situation.

Dredging Dates for Lake Merritt

Following are dates that Lake Merritt is known to have been dredged. Without his expensive but necessary procedure the Lake would become a shallow mudflat with increased quantities of widgeon grass, algae, and odors.

Permit application procedures for dredging are complicated and typically take one or more years to process. After the permits have been issued, actual operations typically take several months or more to complete. The last dredging operation was completed at a cost of over 1.5 million dollars.

Past Dredging Dates

1893 Three areas (80,000 cy). Spoils used to fill wetlands and mudflats.
1899-00 290,000 cubic yards
1909-11 492,000 cubic yards (general clearing and deepening).
1921-24 900,000 cubic yards removed; refuge island created.
1934 Unknown quantity
1953 At least 35,000 cubic yards removed.
1964-5 35,000 cubic yards removed.
1972 Entire Lake dredged; seven months to complete; 50,000 scoops.
1985 Entire Lake dredged; 160,000 cubic yards; $2,150,000
1997 Major storm drain inlets only; 25,000 cubic yards; over $1,500,000.


Date next dredging potentially scheduled: 2009

Documents LMI has regarding Lake Merritt from the Institute Library


Title Published by
Clean Water Best Management Practices to control runoff
Lake Merritt Master Plan July 2002. City of Oakland via Wallace, Roberts & Todd Inc.
Feasibility Study and Breenbelt Plan for the Lake Merritt Channel June 24, 2002. URS Corporation for the Port of Oakland.
Recommendations For Water Quality Monitoring At Lake Merritt 2nd Draft
Final Report on Lake Management Lake Merritt Estuary, Alameda Flood Control Dist. Engineering Science. Feb. 1990 (annual report for 1989).
Lake Management Program Alameda Flood Control Dist. Engineering Science. Annual Report 1990.
Lake Management Program Alameda Flood Control Dist. Engineering Science. Annual Report 1991.
Lake Management Program Alameda Flood Control Dist. Engineering Science. Annual Report 1992.
Lake Management Program Alameda Flood Control Dist. Engineering Science. Annual Report 1993.
Lake Management Program Alameda Flood Control Dist. Engineering Science. Annual Report 1994.
Lake Merritt Estuary Water Quality Monitoring Report, Alameda Flood Control District. Annual Report 1995. (Note: The County no longer takes water quality data at Lake Merritt).
Lake Merritt Siltation Study Water Quality Associates. 1992.
Lake Merritt Management Plan City of Oakland (Phil Grubstick) 1987-9.
Pond of Dreams Lake Merritt History, The EXPRESS, 17:7. Glen David Gold, November 25, 1994.
Lake Merritt Park, Recommendations for a Master Plan American Society of Landscape Architects, 1989. (The Community Assistance Team (CAT) study).
Focus on Lake Merritt Dr. Richard L. Bailey, The Montclarion, 1991-1997.
Species List of Lake Merritt - Invertebrates and Fish James Carlton, 1966.
Lake Merritt Improvement Program (Dredging Contract Specifications.) City of Oakland, 1995.
Lake Merritt Restoration Project CH2MHILL, Alameda Flood Control Dist. 1982.
Lake Merritt Resource Enhancement Plan (Document and Appendices.) Water Quality Associates, 1992.
Lake Merritt Sediment Investigation City of Oakland (Moju Environmental) 1994.
A Historical and Environmental Geographic Analysis of Lake Merritt M.A. Thesis. San Francisco State University. Mary A. Travis, 1995.
Lake Merritt Flood Control Alameda Flood Control District. (Brown & Caldwell Engineers) 1966.
Lake Merritt Biological and Water Quality Data Biological Sciences Department. Merritt College 1977