Lake Merritt Water Quality

The City of Oakland and partners are working to monitor, understand, and improve Lake Merritt water quality and maintain healthy conditions for fish and wildlife in the Lake. This work is aimed at preventing future fish kills like the one that occurred in August of 2022. This work builds off a legacy of habitat and water quality improvements to the Lake through Measure DD and other City and community efforts.

In response to the 2022 Lake Merritt fish kill, the City of Oakland and partners initiated the Lake Merritt Water Quality Management Pilot Project (Pilot). The Pilot is designed to address excessive algae growth and low dissolved oxygen levels associated with the fish kill. The first phase of the Pilot is underway and includes: continuous monitoring of dissolved oxygen, and other water quality parameters at Lake Merritt, stakeholder engagement, a review of prior water quality data collected by others at Lake Merritt, and the installation of devices to increase dissolved oxygen in Lake Merritt.  

Lake Merritt Water Quality Data Dashboard

Click here to see Lake Merritt Water Quality monitoring results.

Partners

The City of Oakland is grateful for the support and assistance of the following organizations:

  • The Alameda County Flood Control and Water Conservation District
  • The California Department of Fish and Wildlife
  • The East Bay Municipal Utility District
  • The Lake Merritt Institute
  • Laketech
  • The Measure DD Community Coalition
  • Oakland Parks and Recreation Foundation
  • The San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board
  • The San Francisco Estuary Project
  • The United States Army Corps of Engineers

Learn more about Lake Merritt, Oakland's jewel, and the nation's first wildlife refuge

 

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