On the first Saturday of October, more than 50 volunteers converged around Duck Lake, William Land Park’s largest pond, armed with rakes, gloves and a determination to clean up the park’s pond and surrounding areas.

DUCK LAKE in William Land Park is a source of wildlife and local fishing. Land Park Volunteer Corps members called the safety of the water into question when dead fish and birds were discovered. / Photo courtesy, Jill Booth MacDonell

These folks are called the Land Park Volunteer Corps and they meet each month to take part in what they call “park work days.” The group was created after the City of Sacramento had to cut Department of Parks and Recreation employees by more than 60 percent in the last three years. Neighbors and city residents decided to step up and do their part to keep their local parks running green.

“I think it’s wonderful what the volunteers are doing because it maintains the ecology of the area, and it’s vitally important when you live in such a crowded area that you have a place you can take a walk or have a picnic in,” said Greenhaven resident, Alessia Wood.

Every month for nearly over two hours, the environmentally-aware group cuts, prunes, plants, and fills garbage bags of debris. But overgrown bushes, roots and left over picnic garbage is not the only thing this group picks up. Land Park Corps organizer, Craig Powell, said there are times when volunteers also see dead fish and birds around the big pond area.

“Some of our volunteers use extension nets and weed around the border of the pond. It’s a dark, murky pond. It’s very difficult for anyone to look at to see what’s in it,” Powell said. “Besides the concern of the appearance of Duck Lake, our main concern is that there are a lot of migratory birds, like the Canada geese, and families who fish there every single day for food for their table. We are not aware of anybody testing the quality of this water to see if it’s safe to eat the fish from there.”

Duck Lake was established in the early 1920s, and is located in the western-most part of the park, along Land Park Drive. Duck Lake was drained, dredged and widened in the winter of 1959. In 1998, it was stocked with 370 trout.

Powell claims that at one time he has seen 15 to 20 dead fish floating on top of the pond and that he has called and alerted the City.

“That should raise some alarm; there is something going on,” he said. “The response I got back from the City is, ‘it just happens sometimes.’”

Powell suspects that run-off from the street is the cause. He believes the City has failed to put in new plumping pipes to resolve the problem.

City leaders say that is not the case. While no testing has been done on the water by either the City or the Volunteer Corps, officials said there are a number of potential reasons for the issues the neighbors are concerned about at Duck Lake.

“Duck Lake is filled with well water from the park’s ground water wells,” said Jessica Hess, City of Sacramento Department of Utilities spokesperson. Ponds such as this do not have natural filtration systems and tend to become polluted from the wildlife they attract. And the hot summertime temperatures is another issue; the water is relatively stagnant.”

According to Hess, the pond gets run-off from two sources: the golf course and a drain. The golf course is the main source of run-off. This water flows through some grassy areas which act as a filter to help extract any potential contaminants from the run-off. The drain in the parking lot on 15th Ave, which runs alongside Fairytale Town, sends water into the botanical garden.

“This botanical garden acts as a natural filter for the urban runoff from the parking lot,” Hess explained. “As the urban runoff goes through the garden, the plants and small ponds within the garden act like ‘nature’s soap’ and allow the contaminants to settle.”

Then what about the dead fish and birds seen around the pond area?

TRIMMING, CLEANING AND CARING for William Land Park are the members of the Land Park Volunteer Corps. The group meets the first Saturday of every month to work on maintenance issues in the park. / Photo courtesy, Jill Booth MacDonell

Some say it could be caused by people pouring liquids and throwing trash and debris into the pond or on the ground nearby – where it can then flow into the water.

“These, too, can impact the amount of available oxygen which can impact water clarity,” said Hess.

Susan Helay, Birds Exhibit supervisor at the Sacramento Zoo, suspect’s human error can also be to blame, particularly among those who fish out of Duck Lake.

“We get a lot of the ducks that have swallowed fishing hooks, or their necks are tied up in left-over fishing lines,” Helay said. “Sometimes we can’t catch the birds to help them because they fly away. Not to mention, many of these animals and fish get old and die off naturally as well.”

Helay did say that if there were several fish or birds found dead at one period of time then there should be concern, but they have not seen anything like that recently.

“Sometimes the animals’ waste in the water can impact the amount of oxygen available which can impact the clarity,” she said.

Helay added that the well-water that is provided at the pond is considered safe and is used at the Zoo as well.

Councilman Robert Fong said he is aware of the Volunteer Corps concern about the District 4 Duck Lake and surrounding area. He said that the City is doing everything they can to keep the park and ponds safe and clean.

“The water in the pond is being filled with well-water, the same water we use in City drinking fountains,” said Councilman Fong. “I’ve been going to William Land Park as a kid, it’s one of our crown jewels, and we would never do anything to hurt one of our natural beauties.”

Most people have probably seen Land Park resident David Lambros without even being aware of it.

If you watch a lot of Pac-12 football on Saturdays or catch the evening sports news, you might just catch a glimpse of him.

He can easily be spotted because of his zebra stripes, whistle and yellow flag.

Lambros started officiating in the Pac-10 in 2001, but the life of this husband and father of two began his life as a referee with more humble roots.

After spending time in the Navy (and Vietnam), Lambros came back to northern California to go to school. He attended both American River College and Sac State and eventually became a deputy sheriff in Sacramento. In a throwback to his days as a football player in high school, Lambros participated in the first four Pig Bowls which annually pits cops vs. firemen.

In 1982, Lambros found a local high school association of officials, bought his books, paid his dues and started on his way to becoming a big time official.

“They train you in the classroom and on the field,” Lambros said. “It’s kind of like an apprenticeship. You don’t get paid at first but the instructors talk to you as the game progresses and critique you.”

He started out working high school and Pop Warner games to hone his craft. In 1986, he started working junior college games before moving on to what was then called Division I-AA and Division II college games in 1992. In 1995 he moved up the latter to the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) and to the Mountain West Conference in 1998.

But it was 2001 that Lambros called “a big year” for him.

He moved on to the Pac-10, one of the biggest stages in college football that year. He also began officiating in the Arena Football League, which he did for eight years. He went on to explain some of the ins and outs of officiating in the Pac-10.

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“There are six Pac-10 crews,” he said. “My crew gets together in February to begin studying for the upcoming season.”

The crew meets twice per month until May, when they begin meeting weekly.

“At the end of July we have conferences and clinics and in August we work scrimmages.”

When it comes to calling games on Saturdays, Lambros still feels like it’s his first time out there.

“Every game I am at I get chills looking around at all the people,” he said. “It doesn’t matter which stadium I’m in.”

As far as his favorite venues in the Pac-10, Lambros is partial to The Rose Bowl in Pasadena, home of the UCLA Bruins. The craziest atmosphere, though, comes from up north.

“Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon is the loudest stadium I have ever been in,” he said.

It was particularly loud when he officiated the Oregon Ducks and Oregon State Beavers at their annual “Civil War” game. The rival universities have played each other every year since 1894.

The travel for a referee can be draining, but Lambros said that it isn’t too bad, because the Pac-10 schools are somewhat close to each other. Outside of bowl season, he never has to travel further than Arizona or Washington.

His list of memorable games includes a 72–68 marathon of a bowl game on Christmas Day as well as the 43–42 Idaho victory over Bowling Green in last year’s Humanitarian Bowl.

In his years as an official, Lambros was blown away by the talents of one player in particular.

Lambros is a “back judge,” which means that he deals mostly with wide receivers and defensive backs. One of the players that stuck in his mind as truly great was former USC wide receiver Mike Williams.

He also said that during his time referreeing in the Mountain West that Brian Urlacher once made a play that even he couldn’t believe while he was at New Mexico.

And as for those penalty calls viewers get irritated by, the officials’ agenda is not as sinister as some make it out to be, according to Lambros.

“When a play goes off, I have no idea who the players are or sometimes even which team is which,” he said. “I’ll see that green pushed white, so the foul is on green. I have to try my best to remember what number the guy was.”

Oct. 23 was Lambros’ final day off of the season before traveling to call the Oregon-USC game on Oct. 30 in Los Angeles. So when you are watching a Pac-10 game on the television, watch for this veteran ref chasing after receivers and throwing his pesky yellow flag.

benn@valcomnews.com

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