Cathleen Allison/Nevada Appeal
Opening of the city's urban fishing pond has been delayed until fall to give plants at the site a chance to get firmly established, said Roger Moellendorf, Carson City's parks and recreation director.
The city had initially hoped for a spring opening, but the project is not quite complete, and the 5,000 seedlings and other plantings need more time to become established before people start using the site, he said.
"This is important not only for aesthetic reasons, but also to protect the water quality and provide a good fish habitat," Moellendorf said.
The city plans to work with the Nevada Department of Wildlife to stock the pond with rainbow trout and brown trout, possibly by Labor Day, he said.
The one-acre pond at the base of Clear Creek just south of Bodines will be accessible from Fuji Park's parking lot.
It will be fairly shallow - about 15 feet at its deepest point, Moellendorf said.
Park Planner Vern Krahn said sagebrush and rabbit brush is planted on the upland banks, as well as dogwoods, willows, serviceberry and alder, junipers and cedars.
Around the pond and in the water are a variety of grasses, sedges and rushes, he said.
Biodegradable erosion-control blankets are in place to stabilize the banks and protect the slopes for several seasons, he said.
"The contractor is expected to complete the project in the next week or two," Krahn said.
Clear Creek is being diverted in and out of the pond, but it also has a groundwater source. The Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California and the Washoe Environmental Protection Department will provide Carson City with monitoring for the pond's water quality treatment facilities.
As of early last year, NDOW had provided Carson City with $450,648 in non-matching grants for the project, and the city's parks department had acquired more than $330,000 in grants and private donations.