I voted to ban feeding ducks and other waterfowl at Laguna Lake, not because I dislike ducks. In fact, I like ducks, especially wild ones. Feeding them is bad for the ducks. Waterfowl in the wild are natural inhabitants of lakes, but nature keeps their numbers in balance with predators and limits to their food supply. Man-made lakes such as Laguna Lake don’t offer natural population checks, so waterfowl numbers explode. By over-feeding them, often with low nutrition human food, people compound the overpopulation problem and create dependence on an unnatural food source. This weakens the ducks and leads to disease.

Feeding waterfowl is also not good for us. Excessive waterfowl populations have polluted our lake and degraded its water quality. This is why the Regional Water Quality Board has required the city to include the ban in our Urban Storm Water Quality Management and Discharge Control ordinance. Also, bird droppings have polluted the turf, playground and picnic area of the park and created a health risk to human beings, especially children. With fewer ducks fed by people, Laguna Lake Park and the lake itself will become cleaner and more in tune with nature.