Don’t let the toxic terrorists win

Microscopic cyanobacteria, blue-green algae, toxic blooms, and non-phosphorous fertilizer aside, the bottom line is: “Can we go boating this weekend on Geist Reservoir?”

After sitting through a one-hour botany class this morning at the Indianapolis Yacht Club (thanks for the cookies and coffee by the way Ron and Connie Cruthers!), I would have to say “yes, go boating to your heart’s content.”

Remember, I’m not a scientist, not a doctor, and haven’t even helped my kids with their chemistry homework in the last five years. But if you exercise common sense, you should be okay this Labor Day weekend.

If you have small children that like to swallow large amounts of water while playing in their inner tubes, you might keep them out of the water. Keep your pets out of the lake, they have a tendency to filter the lake scum through their fur and lick it off after their Kibbles N Bits. The rest of you God-fearin’, boat loving, Sea Doo riding, Cocktail Cove clamoring water lovers should go about your Labor Day weekend just as you normally would. Just live by the old Mexican proverb:

“Don’t drink the water.”

We’ll all have time to deal with the larger issues of water contamination, watershed pollution, overgrown algae, global warming, and which lawn fertilizer to use after Labor Day. This is a weekend to honor working people in the United States and Canada. This is a weekend that we are supposed to relax, take it easy, enjoy the great outdoors, and celebrate our illustrious careers. If those toxins keep us from enjoying our weekend on Geist, we let the toxins win the global war on warming.

It will rain soon, cool down, and this problem will all blow over. Besides, isn’t there a magic powder that the Water Company can sprinkle on this stuff and make it go away?

Unfortunately, the answer is “no.”

Reading between the lines this morning at the resident meeting, this problem will not go away anytime soon. These blue-green algae will require a lot of money, legislation, and people from all over the State of Indiana to get them under control. A cold Indiana winter will put this behind us soon, but don’t be surprised if we are talking about this again next June and July. Blue-green algae thrive in hot water and drought conditions.

For many of us, we’ve just been enlightened to a growing regional problem (slight pun intended). Other neighboring states have been fighting these issues for years. The difference is that in the State of Indiana, we really don’t have a state agency that is responsible for random testing of lakes and streams for these types of toxins. Veolia found this toxin in Geist Reservoir purely by accident while they were testing for other types of alga that impact smell and taste. This is where we need to focus some immediate energy, and thanks to Senator Gard and Senator Merritt, we will have some legislation drafted and submitted to the state legislature soon.

In the meantime, the Geist Lake Coalition is stepping up to organize a watershed committee to start looking at ways to prevent the feeding of this toxic alga. If you are interested in participating, please visit www.atGeist.com and click on the “Contact Us” link and we will pass along your contact information.

In the meantime, have a good time this weekend and just be careful.