Native Angeleno

The only things exposed by the receding water at Echo Park Lake have been shopping carts, 55-gallon steel barrels, a parking-enforcement “boot” and lots of skateboards.

But who knows what is still hidden in the muck at the bottom of the 13-acre lake, soon to be dredged and outfitted with a leak-proof clay liner?

Officials say that leaks once required them to replenish the lake with valuable drinking water. The sludge at the bottom will be hauled to landfills, depending on what’s in it. The sediment is 5 feet deep in places, brownish, greenish and chalky gray, laden with roots and branches.