Lake Committee Review

By Greg Mona SRCA Lake Committee Chair

The Scottsdale Ranch Lake Committee’s role and responsibility are to examine the overall operational costs and environmental quality of the lake and its water use in relation to the Department of Water Resources associated with maintaining Lake Serena. That’s the “official” description of what the committee does, but it is much more than that.

Lake Serena is considered the “crown jewel” of Scottsdale Ranch, and for a good reason. For starters, it is available to all Scottsdale Ranch residents and their guests to enjoy, and not just those that reside by its shores. Besides being visually appealing, it provides opportunities for boating, kayaking, fishing, walking along portions of its shoreline, and other social gatherings and activities.

Getting back to the Lake Committee, our main responsibility is to be a good and consistent steward of the lake to ensure its health and aesthetic value. We are responsible for decision-making when it comes to the management, maintenance, and improvements to the lake that serve our residents in the most favorable way. The committee takes these responsibilities very seriously, and no decisions are made without thoughtful dialog, and the appropriate thorough research when a particular issue calls for that.

Lake Serena is an integral part of the Maricopa County Flood Control District’s stormwater management system. The lake receives a vast amount of stormwater surface runoff from several square miles to the north and east. With all this runoff, many things besides water get introduced into the lake, including dirt, silt, and other inorganic materials. Over time, these materials settle to the bottom, eventually building up and causing the lake to become shallower.

About a year ago, and after several months of research, discussion, logistics, and financial impacts, the decision was made to have a major dredging operation implemented in two different areas of the lake: the cove area immediately to the north and east of the community center, and the cove area at the northeast portion of the lake just south of Shea Blvd. These two areas of the lake coincide with the major inflow points that contain the flows mentioned previously. The dredging operation was a great success. Several hundred cubic yards of material was removed, which increased the depth of the lake by a few feet in these areas. This will provide for easy navigation of boats in these areas for several years to come.

With the lake being a bit over 40 years old, the entire lake bottom has accumulated anywhere from several inches to several feet of silt and organic materials. The committee was introduced to a natural and safe microbial treatment that can naturally “eat up” much of the organic matter while being perfectly safe for the biology of the lake. The first application was made in the spring of 2021 with two more subsequent treatments at set intervals afterward. Depth readings were logged at select locations throughout the lake to use as a benchmark for monitoring the effectiveness of the microbial treatments. The same regimen will be followed beginning in the spring of this year. We are confident this will work as anticipated and is a wonderful alternative to the other impractical means of removing these solids from the lake bottom.

And now for a few facts about Lake Serena. It has a surface area of approximately 41 acres but has 5 miles of shoreline! The average depth is just under 9 feet, with a maximum depth of 16 feet. It is home to a plethora of wildlife, including birds, ducks, geese, turtles, raccoons, bobcats, and javelina. It also supports a variety of fish species, including Largemouth Bass (Northern and Florida Strain), Black Crappie, Channel and Flathead Catfish, Israeli and Common Carp, White Amur (Grass Carp), and several species of Sunfish.

Social Committee Review

By Nina Munson SRCA Social Committee Chair

Gathering our residents together to participate in social events has been a great source of pride for us as Social Committee members and SRCA staff. It is one of the hallmarks that has helped define what we believe community living should be all about. As we faced another challenging year for social gatherings, it has not stopped the SRCA from being creative in its attempts to get our neighbors together. As we saw (and continue to see) Covid guidelines shift, we were able to begin resuming some of our favorite events. I hope many of you had an opportunity to rejoin us at Movie in the Park, our Fall Concert in the Park with special recognition of our Veterans, our Holiday Donation Drive, Fishing Derby and Lake Fest. We also were able to resume our tradition of welcoming new residents to Scottsdale Ranch with one of our most successfully attended New Residents Party to date.

In our Social Committee planning sessions, we had to keep in mind the uncertainty of what limitations we continue facing. Outdoor activities seemed to be a fairly safe approach to consider in our brainstorming sessions. One of our most successful new events, Food Truck Friday, was created. It was such an overwhelming success (so much so that the Food Truck ran out of food at our first one), that we will be holding them in the months to come. I hope you and your families will join us for a future one.

I also want to remind you of the myriad of Clubs that are available to you. You are sure to find a Club or two that meet your interests. Check out the listing of these Clubs on our website www. scottsdaleranch.org. If you don’t find something that represents your interest, perhaps you will be inspired to organize your own. The SRCA Administration is available to assist you. Simply contact them via phone or email and begin the planning process.

For those of you interested in lending your creative ideas, please come join the Social Committee and help us identify new and fun events to keep our residents and their families connected. If time is a limitation, we always welcome your ideas.

I look forward to seeing many of you at one of our upcoming events.