Last fall, a new fishing pier was built at Colby Lake in Edgewater Park at the south end of the lake. The project was the result of a joint effort between the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the city of Woodbury and the South Washington Watershed District (SWWD). In addition to the pier, the entities have been working in tandem to clean up and stock the lake. One initiative has been the installation of an aeration system to prevent catfish from dying from lack of oxygen. According to Mike Adams, assistant parks and recreation director for the city of Woodbury, more catfish means fewer bullheads, and thus better water quality.
Residents of the Colby Lake neighborhood are also doing their part to improve water quality. Through the Colby Lake neighborhood rain garden project, an initiative led by the SWWD, the Washington Conservation District and the city of Woodbury, 26 rain gardens were installed at crucial points throughout the neighborhood between 2012 and 2013 to prevent phosphorous runoff.
