Public meeting set to discuss Blue, Park lakes rehabilitation

EPHRATA -- Rehabilitation plans for Blue and Park lakes, two of the state's finest trout-fishing waters, will be discussed at a public meeting Wednesday, Oct. 23, in Ephrata.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is holding the meeting in response to concerns raised by people living along the lakes about the rehabilitation process. It follows a meeting in April which dealt with rehabilitation of Blue and Park lakes and more than 20 other lakes and ponds in the Department of Fish and Wildlife's Region 2.

At the Oct 23 meeting department experts will explain the rehabilitation process, its history, effects and ramifications. Current plans call for rehabilitation in late October.

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the Fine Arts Performing Center at Ephrata High School.

State biologists have rehabilitated Blue and Park lakes, located north of Ephrata, a half-dozen times in intervals of five to 10 years. The process removes from the lakes fish species that compete with trout for food. Fish are killed with rotenone, a natural poison. The rehabilitation allows trout fry put into the lake by the department to grow naturally into catchable fish.