The Bremerton parks and recreation department has won a $438,000 grant from the state of Washington to improve Kitsap Lake Park, a popular boating site and swimming beach, officials announced during a public meeting Wednesday.

The grant will help fund a major renovation to the public park to make it more handicapped accessible, and to help prevent untreated stormwater runoff – a potential source of contaminants – from entering the lake.

The project will cost between $800,000-$900,000, parks director Jeff Elevado said.

State funding was earmarked from Washington’s Recreation and Conservation Office, via its “aquatic lands enhancement account,” which seeks to improve public access to state bodies of water. The grant requires a 50 percent match from the city, which it will meet mainly with city employee labor, while 10-20 percent of the project will be funded through the real estate excise tax fund.

Accessibility is a focus of the renovation; the slopes of entrance areas are being reduced, curb cutouts are being altered, pathways are being widened to accommodate wheelchairs, restroom fixtures are being upgraded, and access to the swimming beach is being expanded, Elevado said.

But the massive overhaul of the parking lot has presented another opportunity; to mitigate lake contimination, something that has worried community members and city councilors alike.

It was a rough summer for Kitsap Lake. On July 10, swimmers were advised to avoid it due to harmful levels of cyanobacteria or blue-green algae, which can be poisonous if exposed to large amounts. On August 31, the lake was closed due to high E. coli levels.

The renovation project, Elevado said, will see a “modular wetland” filtration system installed, in collaboration with the public works department. The system will help treat stormwater runoff – a potential source of contaminants – before it enters the lake.

Currently, stormwater runoff flows into the lake with no treatment, Elevado said.

The system would improve water quality by helping to filter out nutrients which contribute to harmful algae blooms or bird droppings that might lead to elevated E. coli levels.

During the meeting Wednesday, Eric Younger, a city council member who represents the area in which Kitsap Lake is located, expressed an urgent need to address the problem.

”It’s in my district, and I’m getting quite a bit of inquiries,” he said. “They want something done.”

Toward that end, Elevado said the parks department is working on applications for two additional grants to specifically address water quality, and has solicited the help of private company Aqua Technix, to identify technology to address harmful algae growth.

The city expects to receive the grant money next year for the renovation project, and to begin work in 2020.