MOHAVE COUNTY – The Mohave Community College campus in Kingman has been working toward rebuilding and refreshing the pond on campus. The pond will be utilized for student learning and a nice spot for students, employees and the community to enjoy.
The pond will provide hands-on learning for students to study population ecology, the chemistry of water in freshwater systems, ornithology which is the study of birds, and much more.
“The pond is going to grant us so many unique opportunities for students, it’s not just water and pupfish we are already attracting more species of dragonflies and hummingbird,” said Dr. Tonya Jackson, STEM Associate Dean of Instruction.
The pond has a fountain to help with the ventilation of the water and a bog system, which helps filter the pond water so no extra chemicals are added to the water. Plants such as Spike Rush and Bulrush are in the bog filter to help with water filtration.
During the summer, Arizona Game and Fish released over 500 Desert Pupfish into the pond, entrusting the College with the population. Desert pupfish were once very common in the waterways in this area but have become federally endangered due to habitat loss and fragmentation.
Dr. Jackson said we are very fortunate to have been entrusted with a population of them from Game and Fish and hopefully they thrive, and MCC can play a vital part in the revitalization of this species.
MCC’s facilities department has been working hard to get the pond ready and they have added features to sustain the pond environment. The pond area also has a canopy to provide shade and seating will be added. Waterlilies have been planted in the pond to provide shade as well as a bridge.
The pond is not yet open to the public. A grand reopening date will be announced on a later time. The pond has been on the Kingman campus for about 28 years. In 1995, MCC received a quarter of a million dollars by Grace Neal and Arthur Arnold for the wildlife habitat project. Monies were used for landscaping which included plans for a garden that would attract wildlife, an arboretum and a nature trail.
Kingman campus facilities manager, Dewayne Partain, helps release the Desert Pupfish into the pond.
Arizona Game and Fish came by to release over 500 Desert Pupfish into the pond. The pond is about a cubic acre and has a fountain to help with aeration of the water and a bog system.
MCC Kingman Campus pond has been going through renovations to bring it back to life and for students to use for learning and enjoyment purposes.