In response to studies and accounts that showed the bad condition of the lake, the state restored the fish population of the lake in 1978.
In 1977, the Bronx Borough Board created a special committee to oversee and develop plans for improving Van Cortlandt Park.
The Friends of Van Cortlandt Park soon came up with its own suggestions to improve the park.
After the parcourse for the parade grounds was approved in 1978, the New York City Department of Parks promised to cooperate on the Van Cortlandt Park improvement plans.
The 1979 Eisland plan also detailed suggestions for park improvements.
This culminated in the 1980 appointment of a park coordinator who would start devising details of a "master plan" for the park.

In 1985, a study recommended ecological restoration of the lake and forest, which had been overtaken by invasive species introduced during highway construction.
Since then, there have been seven plans for restoring natural elements of the park, as well as three plans for park restoration.
Gradual improvements began taking place in the late 1980s, including the addition of new pathways, signage, and security, as well as the restoration of playgrounds and other recreational facilities.
In January 1988, NYC Parks conducted a study to determine the specific elements of the park that needed restoration.
Highway structures were also reconfigured to clean runoff from these structures.
An excavation in the 1990s yielded over 2,500 artifacts.

A new filtration plant costing over $3 billion was built 160 feet (49 m) under the park's Mosholu Golf Course and was completed in 2015.
The 830 by 550 feet (250 by 170 m) plant, which is bigger than Yankee Stadium, was built after a 1998 lawsuit by the presidential administration of Bill Clinton, which Mayor Rudy Giuliani settled under the condition that the city of New York would build the plant by 2006.
The city had been studying possible sites for such a plant for more than 20 years in both the Bronx and Westchester.
The plant was needed in order to cut the pollution from the Croton River's watershed, which fed about ten percent of the New York City water system and had been proposed for filtration for the past several decades.
One of the plant's other functions would be to reduce the city's dependence on the Catskill Mountains and Delaware River watersheds, which are only minimally filtered.
The filtration plant was originally supposed to cost $800 million, but experienced delays and a ballooning cost because of uproars from the local community, which required the city to propose alternate sites for such a plant.
To lessen the disruption caused by the plant's construction, in 2010 the city used mitigation funds from the construction of the plant to restore the Parade Ground.
The Sachkerah Woods Playground, located at the park's southeast corner near the Mosholu Golf Course, was also built using Croton mitigation funds.
The new plant allowed the city to provide greater capacity for its water system.
This was especially important since the city was planning to shut off part of an aqueduct from the Delaware River in 2022 or 2023, allowing the completion of a tunnel that would bypass a leaking section of the aqueduct in Newburgh, New York.

As part of the "Van Cortlandt Park Master Plan 2034", critical ecological elements of the park, such as the forest, the rural landscape, and Tibbetts Brook, would be restored, and the brook would be diverted.
As of March 2014 when the report was written, the lack of natural drainage points within Van Cortlandt Park led to the flooding of recreational areas within the park during heavy rains.
The park's paths would also be restored with the addition of three new pedestrian bridges; a playground; four activity centers, of which two would be outdoors and two would be indoors; a skate park; an athletic field; and three basketball courts built within the park. "
Comfort stations" and food concessions would also be added.
The Van Cortlandt Golf Course was renovated in 2016.
In response to studies and accounts that showed the bad condition of the lake, the state restored the fish population of the lake in 1978. In 1977, the Bronx Borough Board created a special committee to oversee and develop plans for improving Van Cortlandt Park. The Friends of Van Cortlandt Park soon came up with its own suggestions to improve the park. After the parcourse for the parade grounds was approved in 1978, the New York City Department of Parks promised to cooperate on the Van Cortlandt Park improvement plans. The 1979 Eisland plan also detailed suggestions for park improvements. This culminated in the 1980 appointment of a park coordinator who would start devising details of a "master plan" for the park.
In 1985, a study recommended ecological restoration of the lake and forest, which had been overtaken by invasive species introduced during highway construction. Since then, there have been seven plans for restoring natural elements of the park, as well as three plans for park restoration. Gradual improvements began taking place in the late 1980s, including the addition of new pathways, signage, and security, as well as the restoration of playgrounds and other recreational facilities. In January 1988, NYC Parks conducted a study to determine the specific elements of the park that needed restoration. Highway structures were also reconfigured to clean runoff from these structures. An excavation in the 1990s yielded over 2,500 artifacts.
A new filtration plant costing over $3 billion was built 160 feet (49 m) under the park's Mosholu Golf Course and was completed in 2015. The 830 by 550 feet (250 by 170 m) plant, which is bigger than Yankee Stadium, was built after a 1998 lawsuit by the presidential administration of Bill Clinton, which Mayor Rudy Giuliani settled under the condition that the city of New York would build the plant by 2006. The city had been studying possible sites for such a plant for more than 20 years in both the Bronx and Westchester. The plant was needed in order to cut the pollution from the Croton River's watershed, which fed about ten percent of the New York City water system and had been proposed for filtration for the past several decades. One of the plant's other functions would be to reduce the city's dependence on the Catskill Mountains and Delaware River watersheds, which are only minimally filtered. The filtration plant was originally supposed to cost $800 million, but experienced delays and a ballooning cost because of uproars from the local community, which required the city to propose alternate sites for such a plant. To lessen the disruption caused by the plant's construction, in 2010 the city used mitigation funds from the construction of the plant to restore the Parade Ground. The Sachkerah Woods Playground, located at the park's southeast corner near the Mosholu Golf Course, was also built using Croton mitigation funds. The new plant allowed the city to provide greater capacity for its water system. This was especially important since the city was planning to shut off part of an aqueduct from the Delaware River in 2022 or 2023, allowing the completion of a tunnel that would bypass a leaking section of the aqueduct in Newburgh, New York.
As part of the "Van Cortlandt Park Master Plan 2034", critical ecological elements of the park, such as the forest, the rural landscape, and Tibbetts Brook, would be restored, and the brook would be diverted. As of March 2014 when the report was written, the lack of natural drainage points within Van Cortlandt Park led to the flooding of recreational areas within the park during heavy rains. The park's paths would also be restored with the addition of three new pedestrian bridges; a playground; four activity centers, of which two would be outdoors and two would be indoors; a skate park; an athletic field; and three basketball courts built within the park. "Comfort stations" and food concessions would also be added. The Van Cortlandt Golf Course was renovated in 2016.
Van Cortlandt Park