Heat takes toll on Lake Ellyn
Increased algae growth, fish kills and 90-degree water temperatures led the Glen Ellyn Park District to cancel a Sunday boating event scheduled on Lake Ellyn.
The lake, which isn’t fed by a spring or stream and receives water only when it rains, has been growing more algae and experiencing noticeable fish kills because of the recent heat wave and this summer’s droughtlike conditions, according to a statement on the park district’s website.
A lake maintenance service treats the lake every two weeks from May to October to limit the growth of algae and submerged vegetation. But in between such treatments, the park district will remove any large dead fish “on an as-needed basis and initiate efforts to eliminate and/or reduce the present odor,” the statement said.
Lake Ellyn, located north of the village’s downtown, holds stormwater for roughly a 1-square-mile area and discharges it through underground pipes to a nearby pond and the East Branch of the DuPage River.
Before this summer’s drought and heat hit, Glen Ellyn officials commissioned a study of ways to increase the man-made lake’s stormwater capacity and decrease the likelihood of flooding. They lowered the lake’s normal water level to create an extra 4.5 acre-feet of storage and increased the rate water is discharged from an outlet pipe.