Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
FARR WEST, Weber County — Workers have spent the last three years preparing a new fishing pond at Smith Family Park in Farr West. The city public works director says vandals could have caused a major setback by tampering with the drainage system there.
The new pond on the south end of the brand new Smith Family Park has been home to thousands of fish, as well as plant life. City workers and the Utah Department of Wildlife Resources have been working to build up and maintain the pond’s ecosphere.
Nate Carver, the city’s public works director, said a good portion of that could have been lost Monday.
“Whoever did it was pretty reckless with the progress that we were trying to make,” Carver said.
Carver was referring to an irrigation wall that had been partially taken down over the weekend, causing about 1.6 million gallons of water to drain from the pond. Carver caught it early Monday.
“There’s definitely signs that it was done intentionally,” Carver said. “I went to do my usual investigation of the structures to make sure everything was flowing right, and noticed that the pond had decreased.”
Levels were down about a foot and a half. The pond has since been restored to an appropriate level after they diverted water from a nearby canal system, but Carver said it took about 36 hours to get the levels back up.
“The shorelines are very delicate right now,” Carver said.
The playground on the north end of the park has already opened. Nearby homeowners like Charmain Robinson said they enjoy the area, and look forward to having the pond available.
“I just think it’s sad that people waste their time, ruining it for everybody else,” Robinson said.
Carver said losing the pond water was just one of several setbacks workers have faced. Vandals have also damaged bathrooms and playground equipment.
Despite the setbacks, there was still a good chance the pond could open for fishing on July 23 as originally planned.
