Lufkin Parks and Rec has plans to clean up algae from lake at Jones Park

LUFKIN, Texas (KTRE) - A lake at a popular park in Lufkin is now the spot of an algae problem, but the algae being found at Jones Park is not thought to be harmful.

“The algae at Jones Park lake is an annual concern that we address, and we do it every year. We address that by adding tilapia fish to the lake,” Jason Arnold, Lufkin Assistant City Manager said.

This year, the city of Lufkin added tilapia into the lake at Jones Park in early May, but the fish are not eating the algae as much as they normally would.

“The theory that we have heard from our vendor that actually sells us the fish, is that because of how cold our spring was or how moderate our spring was, the water temperature didn't get up high enough for the fish to really start going. So, the fish are kind of getting a late start to eating the algae,” Mike Flinn, Lufkin Parks & Rec Director explained.

The lake is not looking its best, but Flinn says it is currently an algae bloom.

“You can go one day and the water will be perfectly clear. The next day, it's completely covered with algae. So, it is not abnormal, especially when you get the temperature fluctuations that we are getting. And now, we're getting large amount of sun included,” Flinn expressed.

Although this is standard practice, the city has plans moving forward to get more of the algae cleaned up.

“The current plan right now is to try this Algaecide that is supposed to clear it up. We will probably put in the water either late today or early tomorrow,” Flinn added. “Then, we will wait a couple of days and see what happens.”

In the meantime, the lake is still safe to continue fishing.

“As you can see, it is a beautiful park. We are already starting to see some improvement from yesterday,” Flinn said. “We can tell the fish are starting to get a little more active. Therefore, we are monitoring this lake every day."

Officials say there are some other additional items in the capital improvement program that will include a walking trail around Jones Park.

Copyright 2020 KTRE. All rights reserved.