Watsonville | Teen scout helps build sign outside Pinto Lake warning of harmful algal blooms

WATSONVILLE - Summer is nearly in full swing, which means people can expect to see an uptick in visitors to Pinto Lake City Park in Watsonville fishing, boating and doing other summer water activities.

However, this year, visitors can also expect to see something new: a sign detailing how to take caution when fishing or boating due to the high levels of harmful algal blooms that tend to reach their apex between May and December - peak boating and fishing season. This sign was built by volunteers and spearheaded by Amanda Lee-Shen - Menlo Park resident and frequent lake visitor - for her Eagle Scout project.

"I noticed that there were a lot of algae blooms at the lake that we often went to," she said. "I really wanted to come up with a solution or make people more aware of the problem."

Lee-Shen is an incoming junior at the Castilleja School - a private secondary all-girls school in Palo Alto - and has been a member of Scouting America Troop 2566 for approximately four years. Her decision to become a scout was primarily driven by her love of the great outdoors.

"I enjoy camping and being outdoors," she said. "My family enjoys fishing a lot."

One of her family's favorite fishing spots is Pinto Lake, a 70-acre body of water off Green Valley Road in Watsonville that draws throngs of visitors each summer to cool down at the lakeside. People can rent boats or bring their own kayaks or canoes - subject to inspection - enjoy a picnic or barbecue meal by the lake or cast rods to catch bass, carp and other species of fish.

During one visit, Lee-Shen noticed a lot of algae on the lake's surface and was warned by a passing fisherman not to touch the water. This resulted in her researching harmful algal blooms, an overgrowth of algae that can release toxins that kill fish and mammals - particularly dogs - and even cause illnesses that, although rare, can be fatal for humans. It is for reasons like this that swimming is forbidden at Pinto Lake.

While the high levels of harmful algal blooms at Pinto Lake have been well-documented, Lee-Shen felt there should be more signage to make visitors aware. The park has signs when the harmful blooms reach a certain threshold, but she said they often go unnoticed and felt the information could be better relayed to a general audience.

"Most signs that are put up around lakes that talk about algae blooms are more scientific," she said. "They don't target a specific group of people that go to the lake. In general, most people don't stop and read the signs."

Lee-Shen organized a team that consisted of seven of her fellow scouts, Watsonville Environmental Project Manager Leslie Rios; Angela Gruys, a project manager with the Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz County; Klay Schott of Safari Signs and Graphics; and members of Watsonville's utilities maintenance, wastewater, parks, engineering and environmental compliance teams, to build an informational kiosk near the boat launch. The overall process took more than a year, including the design and getting approval from the city.

"I think the biggest challenge was getting approval on individual details of the sign because it talked about safety and what people could and couldn't do when they're at the lake," she said.

However, Lee-Shen was very pleased with the final layout of the sign which includes a graphic she designed, of a boy catching a fish, in keeping with the audience she is hoping to reach: fishers.

"It's catered toward visitors who are there for a very specific reason who might not otherwise stop at the sign," she said.

The lefthand side, featuring the aforementioned graphic, covers messaging on the dangers of toxic algae to people, pets and fish. The righthand side details rules and regulations for visitors regarding harmful algal blooms. These include forbidding people and pets from swimming, not letting pets drink the water or go near algae, not touching the scum or water that is cloudy or discolored, not eating shellfish from the lake and not using the water for drinking or cooking - even when boiled or filtered. It also advises people who catch fish in the lake to throw away the guts and clean the fillets with tap or bottled water before cooking.

Lee-Shen hopes to replicate the signs at other lakes.

"It would be beneficial to have that at multiple lakes so more people are aware of the dangers," she said.

Lee-Shen hopes to have a career in environmental science and has already been published in the Headwaters Science Institute's Spring 2026 Student Research Journal with an article on the effect of dissolved oxygen and temperature on harmful algal blooms, co-written with University of Florida instructor Jesse Scott.

Overall, Lee-Shen is grateful to the city and everybody who donated time and materials into constructing the kiosk.

"I think it's very crucial that the signs spread awareness about algae blooms, especially around different activities that people do at the lake," she said.

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