The fish in a Pleasant Grove urban fishery all need to go in order to save the pond.
Crews are draining Manila Creek Pond to fix some problems and the Division of Wildlife Resources doesn’t want the fish to go to waste.
The equipment that adds air to the water at Pleasant Grove’s Manila Creek Pond has broken, and fixing them means emptying all the water.
Deon Giles, Pleasant Grove’s Parks and Recreation Director, said that it’s not just air flow that they will be fixing. They plan to make many improvements. He said, “We need to replace the aerators that are in the pond and do some moss removal; we’re going to recondition the beach, clean the screens, a few things like that.”
The pond has been stopped half full to allow fishermen to come.
The pond is full of trout and the division of wildlife services wants people to use the fish rather than losing them. Normally, people with fishing licenses are allowed to catch only two fish each. However, considering the emergency situation, the division is making an exception and allowing people to catch up to eight fish from this pond only.
There have been high turnouts of fishermen and families coming to the pond.
Giles says that come Friday, the water will be almost completely gone. Until then, he encourages everyone to take advantage of the opportunity. He says, “It’s a great pond. It’s a great place for the public, so we have people from all over come and enjoy it.”
The repairing should take around three weeks, and when finished, the Manila Creek will slowly re-fill the pond and the division will re-stock it with trout.
The wildlife resource division says the repairs will also include a way to fix future problems using divers so that they won’t need to drain the pond again.
