So many geese! Plus three hundred widgeon that show up for the winter these days. But I refuse to blame the shovelers, cos they’re cute.
Worst case of blue-green algae I've seen on a western WA lake 11/30/2023
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So many geese! Plus three hundred widgeon that show up for the winter these days. But I refuse to blame the shovelers, cos they’re cute.
Pardon the somewhat of a post topic drift.
That "Gem of a Lake in Southwest Oregon"(Diamond) has been experiencing a cyanobacteria bloom on a year round basis for at least 7 years.
The below cut and paste is part of a 2017 email correspondence I had with Oregon regulatory agencies regarding this issue.
"DEQ issued a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for the lake that was approved by EPA in 2007 to guide water quality improvements............Currently, DEQ does not have a full-time staff person assigned to the Umpqua Basin and has not allocated resources to monitoring at the lake for several years. We understand other agencies also face budget challenges that prevent dedicating additional resources for monitoring, analysis or management actions. DEQ identified re-engagement in Diamond Lake management as a priority for the Umpqua Basin, but have not identified a funding source for that effort since our federal grant funds were reduced. Consequently, I can’t offer any positive news in terms of concrete action."
That "Gem of a Lake in Southwest Oregon"(Diamond) has been experiencing a cyanobacteria bloom on a year round basis for at least 7 years.
The below cut and paste is part of a 2017 email correspondence I had with Oregon regulatory agencies regarding this issue.
"DEQ issued a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for the lake that was approved by EPA in 2007 to guide water quality improvements............Currently, DEQ does not have a full-time staff person assigned to the Umpqua Basin and has not allocated resources to monitoring at the lake for several years. We understand other agencies also face budget challenges that prevent dedicating additional resources for monitoring, analysis or management actions. DEQ identified re-engagement in Diamond Lake management as a priority for the Umpqua Basin, but have not identified a funding source for that effort since our federal grant funds were reduced. Consequently, I can’t offer any positive news in terms of concrete action."
I don't know anything about that Diamond lake but a TMDL (which is generally issued under the federal Clean Water Act, and implemented directly by EPA in some states, or by EPA delegated water quality programs like Oregon's DEQ or Washington's Department of Ecology) occurs when monitoring indicates that a water body doesn't meet sufficient quality for its intended uses. The TMDL is developed by determining Waste Load Allocations (WLA) for specific pollutants that would allow the water body to meet those uses. TMDLs and their associated WLAs are really only enforceable upon 'point-source' pollution dischargers like industry and municipalities, and don't have significant regulatory power over 'non-point source' pollution that originates from septic drainfields or diffuse agricultural practices.
The difficulty is that many polluted water bodies often far exceed pollutant Waste Load Allocations from such 'non--point sources' and there's not a hell of lot that can be done about it....unless the lake residents band together and attempt to get funding for a centralized wastewater system (Loon Lake, Washington is a good example of a lake community that did so, at incredible initial and ongoing expense) or, if the non-point source is agricultural, persuade that group to alter their practices (which is a very tough nut to crack).
A lot of people (and governments, as well as industry) like to 'talk the environmental talk', but not ''walk the walk' when opening the wallet is actually involved.
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We used to hunt a lake and some ponds off Frenchman Wasteway south of George. Usually float tubes, but we also used a canoe to set dekes one year.
They're all gone now. Invasive weeds and grasses, Russian olives, etc and changes in underground water seepage. A few of them even had fish in them. Here's all that's left. The black pen outline is where the lake used to be.
You can see from the circle crop at the bottom that this was a pretty decent sized lake. It was big enough that if someone was setup on the west and we were on the east we didn't interfere with each other. Great duck spot. Great camping spot for doves when there was still wheat there too. Enjoy your "spots". They don't last forever.
I support and believe and push this conspiracy!
Until they (government agencies) prove it otherwise!
Hot off the press-
Wilderness definitely has had some dogs swimming it in today. Hope they're ok.
Wilderness definitely has had some dogs swimming it in today. Hope they're ok.
I saw it on Lake Washington last week...
