Little known facts about Lake Merritt…and what it will take to make it swimable

KQED has a wonderful little video segment on Lake Merritt, it tells the story of the lake, beginning with the fact that it’s not really a lake, its a Slough. What’s a slough? It’s a swampy marsh with several creeks running into it. We learn some interesting tidbits; Lake Merritt is the first Wildlife refuge in the country, and that apparently some people did indeed swim in the lake (circa 1870s).

An adorable little girl poses the question, what will it take to make the lake swimmable? Well, a UC Berkeley professor has a whole song written about it…see it here…