What Lies Beneath Mirror Lake?

Mirror Lake, the somewhat optimistically named body of water across from Arjona and Monteith, has been a fixture of campus life practically since the university's inception.

Once used for ice skating and as host to an annual rope pull, today the lake serves as a reflecting pool for an elegant stand of birch and evergreen trees, and a scientific test-bed for students and faculty.

At times, however, the lake can be somewhat less picturesque - filled with muck, swarmed by geese or choked with algae.

"It's kind of dirty," said Jesse Dlugos, a 3rd-semester mechanical engineering student. "There's too many geese and everything."

Still, Dlugos says he thinks the lake is important to campus.

"I believe it breaks up the monotony of the rural environment," he said.

So what, then, does Mirror Lake mean to UConn? And what can be done to maintain it?

Donna Ellis, extension educator in the department of plant science, explained Mirror Lake has been invaluable to her research.

In 1996, Ellis began work on a project designed to combat purple loosestrife, a quick-spreading invasive species that grows in tall leafy stalks clustered with purple flowers.

At the time, Ellis said, "the lake was really flanked with loosestrife" - so her research team introduced galerucella beetles to help rein in the loosestrife population.

Today, Ellis reports the lake has moved from "monoculture to diversity," with such a wide variety of plant life that many professors use it to practice species identification with their classes.

"We're very pleased with the progress," Ellis said. "It's a good mix."

Another faculty member who's conducted research on Mirror Lake is Thomas Torgersen, a marine science professor at UConn's Groton campus.

Torgersen explained that the lake's low water level - it is, on average, just over two feet deep - is the result of sediment which is routed into the lake from the network of storm drains on campus, some as far away as the McMahon dorms.

"Most of what gets in the lake comes from off the road," Torgersen said.

Because the lake is used as a retention basin, the University's maintenance options are limited, said Dave Lotreck, head of UConn's landscaping department.

"It's subject to Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) policies which are restrictive," he said.

Lotrek added that dredging plans may be in the works, but couldn't say when those operations may take place.

According to Torgersen, however, dredging may not be needed. "Dredging is a very expensive option … sediment is not a major problem."

Geese congregation, on the other hand, raise about an issue Torgersen characterized as an "intellectual discussion" - the impact of goose "by-product" on the lake.

Lotreck concedes the geese make cleaning the lake a challenge, but said there's little his department can do.

Pnuematic cannons (used to scare away the fowl) are too noisy to be used nearby classrooms, physical decoys detract from the beauty of campus and dogs have been criticized as inhumane, Lotreck says.

Until he comes across a better option, the landscaping boss says, "we try to just maintain it as best we can and hope the long term planning can help out."

Contact James White At

James.White@UConn.edu