Winter Weather?

Spring Peeper (USGS photo)If you are a Weather Channel devotee like I am, you probably have noticed that their current storyline is not about winter, but the lack thereof. I would guess that ratings are hurting without the normal winter weather extremes that draw folks to the tube. I would also guess that industries that depend on cold winters are hurting as well. It is probably not a good time to get into the snow removal business up in the northern states.

Sandhill CranesAround these parts the signs of an early Spring are everywhere. The daffodils are blooming, the chorus of the Spring Peepers (Pseudacris crucifer) is filling the early evening, and the Sandhill Cranes (Grus canadensis) can been seen high above as they make the pilgrimage back North – all ahead of schedule. I remember some warm February days back in my college years, but I cannot ever remember such a long string of warm days as we have experienced this year. It will be interesting to see what surprises the weather will bring us in the weeks to come. I recall an early March ice storm that had the power out for a week and had our family gathered around the fireplace.

As for me, I am not ready for Spring just yet. I still have some winter hiking to complete as well as more time needed in front of the fireplace. I just don’t like to be rushed, but then I doubt Mother Nature really cares!

Until next time, 

Jim

2012 Southeastern NALMS Lake & Watershed Conference

The 21st annual Southeastern North American Lake Management Society (NALMS) Lake & Watershed Conference will be held May 13-15, 2012 at the Ironworks Trade Center in Columbus, GA. This year's theme is "Ripple Effect: Balancing the Needs of Water Resources for a Sustainable Future." For more information and to register, visit the event page on the Georgia Lakes Society website.

Congratulations to our Summer Chair Giveaway winner!

Janet Jankowski of Seven Oaks HOA was the winner of our Summer Chair Giveaway contest. Janet entered the contest via our Facebook page and won an Adirondack chair (assembled and delivered)! 

Thank you to Janet and everyone else who entered. We appreciate our customers!

A Little Color Commentary

Photo credit: Jim LanierThere is an old saying that “you can’t judge a book by its cover.” That may be true for the literary world but when it comes to lakes, the color of your water -- or maybe the lack thereof -- tells many a tale. There are many factors that have an effect on the color of your lake water including geology, organic matter and nutrients. In general terms, the less “stuff” there is in your water, the less color you will see in it. This is why mountains lakes have that crystal clear look -- in most cases, the water is absent of “stuff.” I could go into more detail on this topic, but we’ll save that for another time.

Here’s what got my mind on lake color: I was fortunate enough to spend some time in Washington State recently and had the chance to visit some of the glacial alpine lakes near Mount Rainer. On close inspection the water of the lake was clearer than clear. But when viewing the lake from a distance, the lake water took on brilliant aquamarine blue, like the waters of the Caribbean but even more intense. So what’s the story? This phenomenon is known as the Tyndall effect, named after the 19^th century physicist John Tyndall. The minute glacial silica particles suspended in the water of a glacial lake refract light; blue light is much stronger than red when fine particles are suspended in the water, so the result is a blue color. 

You can try your own experiment on the Tyndall effect. Add powdered milk to water in a clear glass container, then shine a flashlight through the water: it will appear blue! Since we do not have glacial lakes here in the South, this type of lake color is not the norm -- except maybe at Disney World . . . but that’s another story.

Until next time.

Jim

Pond Slang

Is this pond scum? (Photo credit: iStockphoto.com)As the weather warms up, the Aquascape phones and email inboxes get busy; the growing season is upon us, and that means something less pleasant for lakes and ponds than for the flower garden. From now through the summer months, local water bodies are susceptible to a nuisance “blooming” of aquatic vegetation and/or algae.

If you don’t muck around in water for a living, it isn’t always easy to correctly identify what has suddenly appeared in, or appears to be overtaking, your pond. Understandably, folks who contact us often get creative in trying to describe the problem. Here are a few of the most common terms we hear, along with the likely actual culprit(s):

• Pond scum
• Green funk
• Green slime
• Green paint

A report of any of the above in the summer months almost always indicates an algae bloom – although in early spring, it may simply be an accumulation of pollen!

• Oil slick
• Greasy film
• Rusty water

Rarely do we find that oil or grease have actually been dumped or spilled into ponds that report these conditions; the sheen usually comes from a natural source, such as bacteria or byproducts of the breakdown of organic material. Similarly, “rust” is typically iron ochre that forms as a byproduct of iron bacteria metabolism.

• Seaweed
• Pond grass
• Lily pads
• Hydrilla/milfoil

Any of these terms naturally indicates the presence of some type of aquatic vegetation -- although seaweed is only found in the sea! Lily pads, hydrilla and milfoil do exist, of course, but not all floating plants are lily pads, nor is all grass growing underwater either hydrilla or milfoil. Tiny “lily pads” often prove to be watermeal or duckweed, while everything from alligatorweed to parrot’s feather (along with a variety of other aquatic plants) has been misidentified as hydrilla or milfoil.

We appreciate the sometime vivid terms used to describe aquatic issues, and we’re available to come make a visual identification and recommendation for treatment if needed.

Evan Carpenter
Lake Operations Manager