A change in one of the inlets in our lake …..
Our weather always turns very cold in January. We often have at least a week – and sometimes two – of daytime temperatures in the single digits and nighttime temperatures below zero. This cold weather will begin tonight with a nighttime low of 1 degree.
Our lake has large-mouthed bass, bluegill, and crappie. Plus lots of turtles, freshwater mussels, and a few water snakes. As I have written many times, this is a small, 16 acre lake – in Pennsylvania where I am from, we would have called this a pond. There is a large riparian woodland across the lake from us and an agricultural field that runs right up to about half of the shoreline on one side of the lake. As are most lakes in Illinois, this lake was man-made. A very talented couple lived across the lake from us and he is the one who actually designed it, dug it about 45 years ago, and then developed the neighborhood surrounding it. The lake is fed by several natural springs and has about five, good-sized inlets.
Look at this photo I took yesterday. In my previous blog, I discussed how Common Loons are predictors of water quality. If they are not thriving where they should be thriving, then some states are testing the water quality of those lakes for levels of lead and mercury. Here on this small lake, the ice is signaling a change.
When we first moved here almost 20 years ago, another man living on the lake, was an avid fisherman and he took it upon himself to monitor the lake. He had the IL-DNR come every so often and check the population of the fish and water quality. The last time the DNR was here was about 15 years ago and their tests showed our lake was remarkably clear and clean. But this ice shows that has changed.
As this ice is forming, it is pulling silt out of the water – which is why it looks so dirty compared to the pristine snow on the banks. And the silt is agriculture run-off. We had a big change in the smaller agricultural field that runs right to the shore of the lake. Up until about five years ago, the shoreline at that field was all full grown trees – mostly hickories and oaks – and it formed a strip of woodland at least 50 yards wide. This strip of woodland was on the incline from the actual field to the water. It not only kept the soil in place, it also provided a lot of shade to the water and as this is a shallower lake – the deepest part is about 15 feet – that shade was important. Five years ago, the field was sold and the new farmer immediately cut those trees to the ground, stacked the trunks in big piles several stories high and on a rather windy day, burned them. The people living on the lake pleaded with him to stop but he would not and there were several angry confrontations. The man actually hired to do the work was afraid to leave his big equipment here overnight – afraid someone would damage it. No one did. The police were called, but as this was private property, they could do nothing. The day he lit the fires was windy enough that ash and embers blew everywhere and I did call the fire department who came and monitored but other than that, there was nothing they could do either.
What was immediately noticed was that the deer disappeared. There were only a few deer – maybe 4 or 5 – so there was never a lot of damage to landscaping. And most people seemed to like to see them. But once that large strip of woodland was gone, none of us saw any for several years. And now what I am noticing is dirty ice. This agricultural field which now runs right down to the water’s edge is showing signs of erosion and the silt is running right into the lake. Between harvest in the fall and planting in the spring, it is bare soil. And now, after all these years of clean ice in our inlet – ice exactly the color of pristine snow – the ice is dirty brown.
How will this affect the many geese and ducks that are here year round? The Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets? The Belted Kingfisher? All of the dragonflies and insects that use the water? The migrating diving ducks that are here every late winter and spring like the Ruddy Ducks, Ring-billed Ducks, and Buffleheads? What about the Double-crested Cormorants who are here every spring? And what about the people who swim?
My point in sharing this with all of you is to remind you that every change we make creates an impact. And no, I am not advocating that everything be controlled by “The Environmental Police”. What I am advocating is that every change we want to make, no matter how small, be given thought and consideration. Think about the consequences. This field is an example of consequences that have lessened the quality of the water in our lake and the water quality will continue to degrade. Silt also will begin to fill up the lake – beginning with these shallower inlets. And what benefit was it to the farmer? Unfortunately, he cannot answer that as within a few months of the last tree being felled, he died. But his son, who took over, and is continuing to farm the field, cannot farm it to the water’s edge – it is too steep. So cutting those trees did not provide him much of an increase in arable land. And that change affected everyone of us living here. He cut and burned those trees for nothing. He only barely increased his arable land and the erosion of soil is adversely changing our lake. So I am reminding all of us – myself included – that we are a powerful species – a species capable of doing just about everything we set out to do. I just ask that all of us think about the consequences before taking any action. Something will always be destroyed by whatever change we want to make, so make sure the end justifies the means. That whatever change we want to make – that the benefits to everyone affected – are great enough to outweigh that.
I would like to remember and thank:
Keith Wantland – the man with the vision for the lake and the talent and perseverance to create it. And with much support from his wife, Dixie Wantland.
Bob Frey – an avid fisherman who loved this lake. He is the one who monitored it, took care of it, and created all sorts of underwater habitats in which fish could lay their eggs. He is the one who had the DNR check the lake regularly.
Both men are no longer with us, but their memory lives on with all of us who knew them.