The duck ponds at the Calvada Eye are in the midst of a deep cleaning and facelift.
Crews began work on a beautification project this month where the Nye County Administration Complex is located.
Commissioner Butch Borasky said efforts to spruce up the location is something that needed to get done for quite some time.
“There are a bunch of trees that need to be trimmed out there,” he said. “It’s a combination of maintenance and cleaning the pond because the water was getting pretty bad. It’s a tune-up and cleanup project involving general maintenance.”
For the past several days crews have been removing fish and other wildlife from the pond, which according to Borasky, will eventually be drained, cleaned and refilled.
“They have to pump the water out because there is no bottom drain,” he said. “They are relocating the fish and turtles to other ponds in town until they get it all cleaned out. Once they fill it, they will more than likely bring them back and we’ll be back in business again.”
In 2011, commissioners approved a contract to resurface the ponds and add a cement liner at the bottom.
The installation of a waterfall and rock feature were also part of the project.
Borasky said the intentions, though good, created an unforeseen problem with the pond.
“When we didn’t have the liner, it seemed the water stayed much cleaner,” he said. “Now that we have the concrete liner at the bottom, the organic materials don’t break down as fast and it’s created a little change in the cycle of the pond itself.”
Many local visitors to the pond just a few years ago can remember the dozens of ducks and waterfowl which called it home.
A relocation effort by the county found the animals another home in town.
Scores of fish, turtles and even crayfish were also relocated.
Borasky said the pond-dwelling creatures have somehow returned, with the help of a few local residents.
“This is a case where God didn’t put them there, but the people put them there,” he said. “I think people put them in there with the anticipation of coming back to enjoy seeing them in a natural habitat. The fish just didn’t get back in there themselves.”
The commissioner did not provide a completion date for the project, but suggested that crews may finish the project by the end of next week.