Besides being pretty of course, what’s the practical purpose of the pond (and the small concrete building and “high voltage” fenced in area) bordered by Stonegate Drive, Lake Washington Boulevard and the Clarksburg Branch Trail?
I think this is what’s called a detention pond, a small area that gathers waste irrigation water and rainfall. Instead of all this water going directly back to the river or the deep water channel, water can slowly infiltrate downward and possibly recharge the ground water supply. I suspect the high voltage signs and concrete building refer to pumps which force the water outward when the pond level gets too high. I think these detention ponds are now commonly required of developers.
Thank you, Thomas! I figured it was something like that. Now when I have visitors from out of town and I’m showing them around my lovely neighborhood, and they ask about the pond, I will have an answer. Thanks again! 
Interesting.
I always see people fishing these two ponds. Anyone have any idea what they are fishing for? It’s near my house and I’ve always thought about walking over and throwing my line in but I don’t know what’s in there.
They’re holding ponds for local utilities. If you look at the ground in the surrounding areas, you’ll see small metal covers labeled ‘water’, and painted PURPLE. The purple is a common color code that lets utility workers know that the water is ‘recycled’. ie: it is wastewater from either sewage treatment, or municipal water purification. I don’t know which it is in the southport area.
The water itself is technically not safe for human consumption, although it’s probably pretty harmless. I work at a wastewater plant, and we have comparable water that we use for seal water, hosing down clarifiers, etc. We’re allowed to export it to local sod farms to grow grass, but we’re not allowed to send it out into any area that is considered public (ie: to water median strips on the roads). Those ponds are in public areas, which tells me that the water is even safer than the stuff I routinely rinse off my hands, boots, etc with.
The ponds themselves are probably used for equalization or flow control. I’ve noticed that they draw the ponds down a couple feet before storm events. Then the ponds serve as a sort of ‘safety valve’ for when something goes wrong at a lift station. Just buys you some time to fix the problem quick quick before people start calling in because their living rooms are being submerged.
And the fish are probably stocked for mosquito abatement purposes. Gotta fend off that West Nile, ya know!