Algae causing problems at Capaha Park pond

Kaed Horrell sees the pond scum. He's fought the pond scum. For now, the pond scum is winning.

The Cape Girardeau parks division manager has spent quite a bit of time at Capaha Park, which has gone under major renovations lately. There's a new parking lot, splash pad, trail and new decks overlooking the water. New lighting was installed around the walking path. Even the baseball stadium still has a fresh look from major upgrades in recent years.

But that algae is making a mess of the otherwise new and fresh aesthetic of the park.

"We know how visible it is," Horrell said. "I go by it every day. We are very well aware of it."

Horrell and his staff are frustrated by the floating plant life that doesn't want to leave the Capaha pond.

Horrell met with experts with the Missouri Department of Conservation on Wednesday, Aug. 30, and the outlook wasn't good.

The pond algae is resistant to the algaecide the parks department was hoping would fix the problem.

That means, Horrell said, the parks department will have to remove the algae manually this year and likely next. He said the department will begin removing the algae by hand next month.

"When we redid the pond, we disturbed the soil," Horrell said. "What's happened is that we released a bunch of nutrients, which is creating the algae situation we've had."

The City of Cape Girardeau has spent millions to improve the pond and its surroundings at the park. That included $2 million for dredging the pond of up to 10 feet of sediment in some places. The sediment changed the depth of the water, which was largely blamed for causing so much algae for the last decade or more. But it appears fixing one issue has created another.

Horrell said the department has fought the algae in a number of ways. In addition to the dredging, two aerators and a fountain were installed as part of the park improvements. Moving water is an algae deterrent. But as the summer temperatures rose, the algae returned, despite efforts to deter it. So much so, the growth has affected the fountain's functionality. Workers on Wednesday went out on a boat to clean the fountain's filter, which had been clogged by algae.

Park staff has been working on adding chemicals to the water to tamp down the algae, which worked to some effect, Horrell said, but just when he thought the algae was receding, it rebounded again.

Horrell said the staff will continue to battle the algae, but he believes there are reasons to think it won't be around forever. Once they can get the nutrient levels under control and stable, eventually the algae will die off. Exactly how long that will take is unknown.

"The MDC guy said they had the same problem in Cape County Park," Horrell said. "They had issues with algae for about two years. This is probably something that we're going to be fighting for a little while."

Horrell said there is a type of dye that can be used to cool the water and limit the spread of the algae, but at this point, it's unknown how well it will work.

The algae will recede when temperatures cool this fall. Then the work will begin anew for the age-old algae problem at the Capaha pond.