West Sacramento presents Bee's Lakes restoration plan with floating wetlands and interpretive kiosks

Erin Ayala, parks and recreation business manager for the City of West Sacramento, presented a multi-phase plan to restore Bee's Lakes, a largely undeveloped green space along the Sacramento River, and to install educational kiosks and public-access features.

Ayala said the project already has two past grants: $592,500 from the Delta Conservancy in 2018 to complete a habitat restoration plan and $2,370,000 awarded in 2022 to pay for design, permitting and the first phase of construction. “Im bringing you a presentation on the Bee's Lakes Habitat Restoration and Public Access Project and the educational kiosks associated with it,” Ayala said.

The project elements described include brush clearing and trash removal, water-quality improvements using anchored floating wetlands (sometimes called floating islands), an initial decomposed-granite parking area, a walking loop around the larger lake, a viewing platform, and educational kiosks that explain water quality, native plants and tribal place names. Ayala said the floating island technology is intended to pull contaminants such as arsenic from the water into plant material, which crews would trim and remove periodically.

The site is adjacent to a 5.6-mile Class I bike trail, and staff said kiosks would help visitors identify nearby amenities such as restrooms and hydration stations. Ayala said staff reached out to three local tribes and received preapproved content for signage; commissioners asked that the community-facing panels include phonetic pronunciations for tribal terms.

Commissioners pressed staff on details that were not yet finalized. When asked about the project's land area, Ayala said she would confirm the precise acreage but guessed it could be about nine acres. Ayala also said environmental testing has identified arsenic in the lake sediment; she confirmed crews have tested water quality but said staff were still working on detailed subsurface scans and removal plans and that there is debris, including boats and garbage, in the lakes.

Ayala described the project as still in the environmental-permitting phase and said staff expected to reach 30% design and hoped to begin construction in summer, contingent on permit approvals. She also described the project as the first phase of a larger effort that could later include additional overlooks or boardwalks but said earlier plans for elevated boardwalks were scaled back because of cost and concerns about impacts to sensitive plant species.

Commissioners suggested including raptor nesting platforms and exploring volunteer or Conservation Corps participation for future work. Ayala said a conservation corps element was likely under the grant but that staff would provide follow-up updates to the commission later in the year.

If built as described, staff said the restored area would provide improved habitat and educational opportunities for school groups and residents and would help address long-standing water-quality problems at the site.