Next year, the pond at Peter Pan Park will undergo a new process that will help limit fish kills and benefit ag land following Emporia City Commission approval last week.
As part of their final action meeting of 2025, commissioners authorized two contracts totaling nearly $12,000 for dredging close to 12,000 cubic yards of material from the pond through Hodges Farms and Dredging of Lebo. While dredging is not a new practice for the lake, Director of Public Lands and Facilities Kevin Hanlin explains that, unlike the current practice of draining the pond and then dredging, the process performed by Hodges does not require the lake to be empty.
In addition to the dredged sediment being repurposed for farmland use, Hanlin says the new process will also limit, but not eliminate, the need for fish kills in the future.
Hanlin explains that the process enhances the health of the entire pond.
Hanlin adds that the process will take place with fish still in the pond, meaning some may be lost during the work. That said, he tells KVOE News that the pond will be fully restocked with fish following any dredging by the “Fish and Game Department.”
Hanlin says the process may take 10 days to complete, with the first dredge scheduled to take place either in June or July, and sediment application to farm ground occurring “after harvest.”
