July 1, 2015
Carp cleaning up at Waterworks pond
Joe McIntyre/staff photographer
Paul Sandy, left, and Cortland Department of Public Works Supervisor Nick Dovi release eight grass carp into the waterway Friday at the Cortland Waterworks. The carp, which can grow to more than 4 feet long, will help improve the waterway near the Waterworks by clearing up algae.
Eight grass carp were introduced Friday to their new home in the pond at the city Waterworks.
The carp, a grey-green-colored herbivore that feed on the algae and plant life growing in the 0.8-acre pond, are expected to help improve the water quality by clearing up the algae.
“We are just trying to turn it back to how it used to be,” said Deputy Police Chief Paul Sandy, who has been an unofficial caretaker of the Waterworks site for the past four years.
When he was young, Sandy recalled seeing large trout in the pond, some more than2 feet long.
In recent years, vegetation has taken over the pond, which has reduced the pond’s depth, and left it without much visible wildlife that visitors expect to see.
Permits to release the fish in the pond were acquired from the state Department of Environmental Conservation, Sandy said. The DEC recommended introducing eight carp for the time being, based on the size of the pond.
The fish, each about 8 to10 inches long, can grow up to 4 feet long, Sandy said.
The pond has been stocked with fish many times in the past, Sandy said. In the fall, he plans to reintroduce rainbow trout to the pond as well.
Sandy oversaw the release of the fish into the pond on Friday, along with Cortland Department of Public Works Supervisor Nick Dovi.
The carp, which came from Fish Haven Farm in Candor, traveled about an hour in a bag filled with oxygenated water. The money to purchase the fish, which cost $170, according to Sandy, came from funds set aside by the Public Works department for care of the habitat at the Waterworks site.
Dovi said the release was painless for the fish, who took just a few minutes to acclimate to the water in the pond.
“They will help make it look a little bit nicer,” Dovi said.
To raise additional funding for the habitat, including care of the deer herd that live on the grounds and the additional fish stocking Sandy plans to do in the fall, Sandy will be installing a bottle and donation bin at the Waterworks site on Thursday.
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