The city’s second Waterfest at Holmes Lake Park, a free event, will be from 5 to 8 p.m. June 14.

The first Waterfest was held in 2006 to celebrate the completion of a major improvement project at the lake and park. Waterfest activities will include fishing, canoeing and other hands-on activities.

The event will feature a raptor release, a live radio broadcast, a performance by the String Beans, educational exhibits and free refreshments while they last.

Holmes Lake and the surrounding park are managed by the Lincoln Parks and Recreation Department.  The two-year, $5.6 million renovation project included the removal of 321,000 cubic yards of sediment that had accumulated from 40 years of development and agricultural use upstream.

The dredging project extended the recreational life span of the lake by more than 100 years. The City, the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, the Nebraska Environmental Trust Fund and other partners funded the project.

“Holmes Lake is once again a top recreational area in our city, and we are doing everything we can to keep it that way,” Mayor Chris Beutler said.

“At Waterfest, residents will learn what they can do to help, such as reducing the use of phosphorous fertilizer in the watershed area.”

The city has been promoting the use of no- and low-phosphorous fertilizer in the Holmes Lake watershed and throughout the city. Phosphorous not absorbed by plants runs off lawns and accumulates in creeks and lakes. It can create blue-green algae blooms that can be toxic to humans and pets and cause fish kills.

The Watershed Management Division of the City Public Works and Utilities Department also is working to reduce the threat of future pollution at Holmes Lake through public education, implementing stream bank stabilization projects and promoting water quality improvement efforts such as the use of rain gardens and rain barrels.

More information about Waterfest is available on the city Web site, lincoln.ne.gov (keyword: waterfest).