Strong Odors Occurring at Swan Lake
Staff at Washoe County Health District, Washoe County Community Services Department, the City of Reno and the Washoe County Health District (WCHD) have been fielding complaints regarding odors from Swan Lake over the past week. WCHD Environmental Health Services (EHS) staff conducted an inspection of the lake at various points and found the following:
1. Naturally occurring biological activity may be contributing to naturally occurring odors. At the time of the site visit, odors were not apparent.
- Staff looked for signs of illegal dumping or other sources of contamination that may be causing the odors and none were found.
- Staff noted this is a natural bird habitat and water levels have been dropping over the past year, exposing more shoreline including plant and other organic material that has been submerged for several years.
- This has been confirmed with staff from Washoe County Air Quality and CSD through independent site visits.
2. WCHD Air Quality Management Division (AQMD) notes any odors also are naturally occurring.
3. Both the City of Reno and Washoe County have sewer treatment plants which currently discharge treated effluent to Swan Lake under existing approved permits. Both facilities are in compliance with their NDEP operational and discharge permits.
- WC Treatment Plant intermittently discharges to Swan Lake, which are approved with the last discharge occurring in January 2022.
- COR Treatment Plant discharges continually to Swan Lake via Horse Creek.
- When discharges occur, all effluent is treated and meets discharge requirements.
At this time, EHS has determined these odors are naturally occurring and will continue as the lake continues to dry. Since this is naturally occurring there is no action for WCHD or others to take. As colder weather continues it is anticipated that these naturally occurring odors will decrease but will always be part of a the natural lake environment.