Reed Lake is known as one of the cleanest watersheds in Portland. But, when you investigate where the water is from, you will probably notice that the water is not very deep, and the bottom of the Reed lake is covered in greyish mud. While this may seem antithetical to the image of a “clean” water source, this sediment is one of the main reasons why Reed lake is so pristine. There are a lot of trees around Reed lake, and when those trees lose their leaves, they end up falling into the water. Since the water in Reed lake moves very slowly, a lot of the leaves end up decomposing right where they fall. Since the slow-moving water also doesn’t have very much oxygen. In other, faster moving, streams, both the leaves, topsoil sand would travel downstream, decomposing and clogging up potential spawning beds for salmon. It’s hypothesized that over 15 feet of sediment line the bottom of Reed lake. As long as the water remains slow, the sediment will continue to build and filter the water. It is possible that Crystal Springs lake will turn from a pond to a wetland one day.
Works Cited:
- Cover photo: Rachel Cole-Jansen, "IMG_0497 picturesque.JPG." Reed College Digital Archives. Photographed August 9, 2010. https://rdc.reed.edu/i/1f948f98-f63c-44e5-ae73-ac4448d22d28
- "Reed Canyon Reach". (2001). https://www.reed.edu/canyon/reso/docs/2001_PPR.html#_Toc504459801
- Valuing the Benefits of Ecosystem Services Generated by the Reed Canyon Restoration Project: 1999-2009: Index. (2009). https://www.reed.edu/canyon/reso/docs/2010_ecosystem_services/index.html