Newton Lake gets an algae cleanup from Camden County

Jim Brown has caught bass, sunfish, and three kinds of catfish in Newton Lake, a man-made lake and favorite fishing spot that winds through Collingswood, Haddon Township, and Oaklyn.

"They're all fun to catch," Brown, of Oaklyn, said Sunday, leaning next to his tackle box on a railing overlooking the lake, a line lowered into the algae-spotted water below.

In the last year, algae grew so thick Brown said fish were coming up to the surface, searching for air.

The situation has improved, he said, one week into an algae-removal project led by Camden County, which owns the 103-acre park surrounding the lake.

Though sections of the lake are still coated in algae, "most of this is pollen knocked out of the air," Brown said, surveying the water's surface. "They've been doing their best."

Earlier in the weekend, Brown watched a machine scoop enough algae to fill three barge-like containers. A dump truck and front-loader were at the water's edge.

Princeton Hydro, hired by the county to remove the algae and other aquatic plants, is averaging eight bargeloads a day, president Stephen Souza said.

"We're going to try to take away as much as we can," he said.

The removal efforts, which began last Monday, were slowed by thunderstorms at the end of the week, Souza said. He expects the company will be at the lake for the next seven days.

Once the algae is gone, the county will treat the lake with herbicide to prevent future growth, Freeholder Jeff Nash said.

The treatment is "absolutely safe" and won't hurt wildlife or require the public to stay off the lake, Nash said.

The county - which dredged the lake a decade ago to remove sediment that made it shallow, spurring more algae growth - recently installed aerators in the lake, hoping to create water flow and cut down on algae.

The benefits weren't noticeable, Nash said, prompting the county to move forward with the removal project.

Residents at the lake Sunday said the algae hadn't kept them from fishing or enjoying the scenery, though they acknowledged the unsightliness.

"It's quite a mess," said Jennifer Bassett of Haddon Township, who was walking around the lake. But "nobody really cares."

Bassett still enjoys wildlife at the lake; on Sunday, she was photographing a group of ducks. "You don't see black ducks that often," she said, pointing at two among a group of mallards.

Standing at the edge of the lake, Josh Hoyte, of Haddon Township, his fishing line cast in the water, called the algae "a pain in the butt."

Fishing next to him, Joe Martins, agreed: "It gets in everything," said Martins, also of Haddon Township.

Though the overgrowth is significant, "people still come here," said Martins, who began coming to the lake as a child.

On Sunday, he took his children fishing. Algae aside, he recalled the lake being in poorer condition in years past.

"You don't see as many tires or shopping carts in the water as you used to," he said. "Somebody cares."

The lake has grown more popular over the years, drawing more families and people using the surrounding paved path for exercise, residents said.