What happened to the lotus pond in Sacramento’s Land Park? Bee Curious answers

Uniquely is a Sacramento Bee series that covers the moments, landmarks and personalities that define what makes living in the Sacramento area so special.

It’s been almost two years since the lush green lotus pond at William Land Regional Park in Sacramento was drained, and people are wondering when it’ll come back.

The pond, also known as the duck pond, featured vibrant green lotus plants that bloomed in the summer. Light pink flowers would peek out of the leafy bed.

A reader recently asked Bee Curious, a community-driven series: “What happened to the lotus pond in Land Park? Has it been permanently removed?”

It’s a question locals are asking on Reddit as well.

“I just visited the Lotus Garden at Land Park over the weekend and it was just an empty duck pond,” Reddit user Just_Another_Dad posted in April . “Did I miss something? Or is the Lotus Garden no longer a thing?

How did the lotus pond end up in a Sacramento park?

Daisy Mah planted the lotus pond in William Land Regional Park in 2005 while working for the city Parks Department.

KVIE, a PBS station based in Sacramento, covered the pond’s bloom in 2020 .

“Part of my reason for being a gardener was to make the world more beautiful,” Mah told KVIE. “I was seeing how the immigrants from Southeast Asia were struggling with adapting to their new world and I thought, ‘I want to find something that will speak to them.’ And I think that was successful.“

Mah noted that the lotus flower has many different symbolic meanings in Asia, from purity to reincarnation.

“(The flower) emerges from the muck and the mud — pure and beautiful,” she said. “That’s ... what people should strive for. Even though they might have some negative flaws, they can always become better.”

Mah, who retired in 2013 after working for the city for more than three decades, also tended the WPA Rock Garden in Land Park for 25 years, The Bee reported.

“Terraced on one acre between the amphitheater and Fairy Tale Town in Land Park, the garden boasts thousands of perennials, bulbs, shrubs and trees, almost all propagated and planted by Mah,” Bee reporter Debbie Arrington wrote in 2013.

What happened to Land Park lotus pond?

In August 2022, the city of Sacramento announced that it would temporarily drain two ponds in William Land Regional Park.

This included the lotus pond and the water lily pond.

“This action is a protective and preventative measure for the Sacramento Zoo in response to the California Department of Fish & Wildlife advisory notice of avian influenza detection in Northern California,” city officials said in a 2022 news release.

Avian flu is common among wild birds , according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the virus can spread among wild aquatic birds, domestic poultry and other birds and animals.

Humans can get infected, too, although that’s rare.

At the Sacramento Zoo, staff protected birds by moving them indoors and draining the Flamingo Lake because it attracts wild ducks that carry the disease, the city release said.

Due to their proximity to the zoo, the duck and lily ponds at William Land Regional Park were both “dewatered,” city spokeswoman Gabby Miller told The Sacramento Bee.

Avian flu was not detected in Land Park’s bird population at the time.

However, three birds found dead in a Land Park pond in the fall of 2023 tested positive for the virus.

Is bird flu still a threat?

According to the CDC, the public health risk of bird flu was low as of May.

The health agency tracks and reports flu detection in wild birds.

As of May 14, there have been reports of 9,352 birds with avian flu across the country since 2022.

Will lotus plants return to Land Park?

Miller said the ponds were refilled last year once the immediate threat of avian flu had passed.

The lotus plants will return, she said, but it is unclear when.

“The plants did not survive the dewatering process,” Miller said, “but city staff plan to replant lotus within the existing planters at Duck Pond and water lilies at Lily Pond.”

Miller added that the timeline for planting lotus flowers is not dependent on the zoo, which is moving from Land Park to Elk Grove.

Although Mah has retired from service with the city, Miller said, staff would welcome her input once the replanting begins.