Kiwanis 'Smart Lake' teaches students how to keep their aquatic neighborhood healthy

Paul Kuehnel, York Daily Record
·4 min read

Kiwanis Lake in York is now smarter and cleaner thanks to a two-year project funded by the York Rotary Club.

The upgrades offer an ongoing educational opportunity for Smith STEAM Academy students to help monitor the lake, located in Farquhar Park, and be part of making a difference in their community.

“A lake, like anything else, is a living, breathing organism,” Aaron Jacobs, president-elect of the Rotary, said during a recent celebration marking the completion of the project.

Fountains on Kiwanis Lake help add oxygen to the water. It's all part of a two-year project to make the lake at Farquhar Park both cleaner and "smarter."
Fountains on Kiwanis Lake help add oxygen to the water. It's all part of a two-year project to make the lake at Farquhar Park both cleaner and "smarter."

"And it’s no secret that just a few years ago our precious lake was in bad shape. The lights, the dam and the fountain no longer worked, it was overrun with geese, the lake was filled with garbage, algae, hydrilla (an aquatic plant) and flooding was a common occurrence,” he went on to say, adding that the city didn’t have the resources “to play catch-up with it.”

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York Mayor Michael Helfrich remembered disbanding a class he was teaching in 2004 after leeches were found in Willis Run, a creek that supplies Kiwanis Lake. Leeches are an indicator of bad water quality, he said.

The York Rotary Club raised $175,000 plus $100,000 to $125,000 in in-kind contributions to complete the project, Jacobs said. York city crews executed much of the physical work to get the job done.

Aaron Jacobs, president-elect of the York Rotary Club says that the organization raised $175,000 combined with $100,000-$125,000 in in-kind contributions to finish the Kiwanis Lake project.
Aaron Jacobs, president-elect of the York Rotary Club says that the organization raised $175,000 combined with $100,000-$125,000 in in-kind contributions to finish the Kiwanis Lake project.

A five-phase plan outlined by the city in a news release included wildlife management, an aeration system, flood gate repair, replacing lights and fountains and the installation of “SmartLake Technology,” which uses sensors to understand the health of the lake and weather conditions so it can be monitored and graphed going forward.

Since 2019, 2,470 geese have been “harassed” out of the lake area, according to Tom Landis, superintendent of York City Parks & Recreation. The large number of geese fouled the water and littered the banks with their waste.

According to Landis, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service harassment program consists of using dogs, pyrotechnics, pop guns, laser pointers, remote control cars and boats to scare the geese away.  In the spring, the wildlife officers can disrupt nesting sites with hopes of encouraging the geese to go elsewhere.

During the recent celebration, a group of about 12 ducks were the only lake swimmers visible in the park. Across the lake, a large turtle hopped off the bank into the water after making eye contact with a walker. The water is visibly cleaner than it was before.

This is the Kiwanis Lake dam and repaired floodgate. Sensors can now determine changes in the height of the water.
This is the Kiwanis Lake dam and repaired floodgate. Sensors can now determine changes in the height of the water.

A combination of fountains and bubblers add oxygen as well as keep material suspended in the water so it can be flushed out of the lake with regular currents rather than accumulating on the bottom.

According to Jonathan Barton, of Trola Industries, Inc., of Manchester Township, whose company set up the lake’s monitoring system, an array of sensors near the dam measures weather data and information about the water so this can be used to keep the lake healthy.

Weather data including temperature, barometric pressure, wind speed and rainfall is collected to determine the impact on water quality.

A small group of ducks rests along the bank of Kiwanis Lake. Since 2019, 2,470 geese were "harassed" from the lake in an effort to lower the population and improve water quality and waste left on paths.
A small group of ducks rests along the bank of Kiwanis Lake. Since 2019, 2,470 geese were "harassed" from the lake in an effort to lower the population and improve water quality and waste left on paths.

Water data includes temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, and lake level.

The data is streamed onto a website.

A live video stream allows observation of two endangered bird species on the island, how bird and other animal species are using the lake and observes the operation of the dam so the automatic leveling gate can be monitored by York city maintenance workers, especially during storms, according to a sign describing the SmartLake Project.

Students from the Smith STEAM Academy are involved in taking water samples and use the data gathered to monitor the health of the lake.

Giuliana Paugh, left, and Kelira Shaw-Burton give out an invite for the public to adopt a storm drain at Kiwanis Lake. The seventh-graders in the Smith STEAM Academy help monitor the lake and use the data generated in the classroom.
Giuliana Paugh, left, and Kelira Shaw-Burton give out an invite for the public to adopt a storm drain at Kiwanis Lake. The seventh-graders in the Smith STEAM Academy help monitor the lake and use the data generated in the classroom.

“I think we definitely did help make an impact (in our community) taking samples and helped them to complete the project,” Giuliana Paugh a seventh-grader noted, adding, “Before, it was covered in algae, and it was hard to fish. It’s way easier to fish and prettier to look at and makes our community look nice."

Another seventh-grader, Kelira Shaw-Burton, who helped with the project, said that she has been living near the lake for nine years and comes past it nearly every day taking pictures of the sky and plants.

“Kiwanis Lake is a gift from several previous generations, and we as a city must be good stewards of this gift today and tomorrow,” Jacobs said. “We hope the work we have done here honors that gift and sets up the next generation to appreciate and take care of the lake,"

I have captured life through the lens since 1983, and am currently a visual journalist with the USAToday Network. You can reach me at pkuehnel@ydr.com.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Kiwanis Lake in York restored as Smart Lake with Smith students help