One million goldfish, minnows dumped into Tempe Town Lake to control insects
Apr 29, 2016, 2:47 PM
(Screenshot)
(Screenshot)
PHOENIX — More than one million goldfish and minnows were dumped into Tempe Town Lake on Friday to reduce the number of insects in the area, the city said.
“They’ve done a great job of doing this for the past several years and we’re quite happy to have them coming back,” Kris Baxter-Ging with the city said.
The city drained the lake in March to replace an aging rubber bladder dam at its west end. While it was empty, Tempe took steps to keep insects under control in addition to giving fish that were already in the lake a “staycation.”
Several deliveries of different species and sizes of fish will join them in the lake over the next few weeks.
“Thousands of larger fish that were kept safe in Town Lake Marina are already back swimming in the lake,” she said. “Fishing is pretty good right now and will only get better.”
Baxter-Ging said another popular fish will be added when things begin to cool off after the Arizona summer.
“We won’t be adding trout until the fall because they’re a colder weather fish,” she said.
The city has installed a new dam and refilled the lake, though it has not yet reopened to water activity. It was scheduled to open Saturday, but city officials said that is at least two weeks away on Thursday.
KTAR’s Jim Cross contributed to this report.
