Category: Lake

Nonpoint-source pollution is the cumulative result of our everyday personal actions and our local land use policies. Here’s a brief rundown on the major types of pollutants carried by runoff.

Pathogens

Pathogens are disease causing microorganisms, such as bacteria and viruses that come from the fecal waste of animals and humans. Pathogens wash off the land from wild animal, farm animal and pet waste, and can also enter the lake from improperly functioning septic systems, leaky sewer lines and boat sanitary disposal systems.

Nutrients

Nutrients are compounds that stimulate plant growth, like nitrogen and phosphorous. In high concentrations, they can become both an environmental and health threat. Nutrients in polluted waters can come from agricultural fertilizers, septic systems, home lawn care products, and yard and animal wastes.

Toxic Contaminants

Toxins are substances that can harm aquatic and human life. They are created by a wide variety of human practices and products like heavy metals, pesticides and organic compounds like PCB’s. Many toxins are resistant to breakdown and tend to be passed through the food chain to be concentrated in top predators. Oil, grease and gasoline from roadways, and chemicals used in home, gardens, yards and on farm crops, are major sources of toxic contaminants.

Polluted runoff is largely the result of the way we develop, use and maintain our land. The sources are many and how we respond to clean up nonpoint-source will take the concerted efforts of everyone. Public attention is beginning to focus on this issue along Lake Huron. Making progress in cleaning up nonpoint-source pollution can begin by learning more about polluted runoff and how you can combat it in the course of your everyday decisions.

The lake was glimmering in the callow light of dawn. Local legend had it that a giant hand had scooped out a gash of rock aeons ago. Then a great heap of argent-silver was moulded and poured into it, hemmed in by precipitous hills.

A broad span of Tuscany-blue sky was slashed above it, making it appear like nature’s amphitheatre. The hollowness of the valley magnified all sounds, from burbling streams to the bumble of bees. The visage of the lake was veneer-clear and tranquil, flanked by an avenue of cedar trees. There was feng-shui perfection to the scene, while the water was gilded with moonlight-pale lilies. Plip-plopping fish caused concentric rings to puff out and disappear as the air hummed all around us. A phalanx of flies was patrolling the water’s edge, called into service by the heaven-filtering light.

Tolkein-esque ferns swayed beside a brook that spiralled down from a turf moor. The water had a peaty texture, but pools of molten gold lay naked in the light. At the bottom, smooth-edged stones glowed amber with a witchery uncommon to the modern world. I sat on a rock, admiring the glorious lustre of the water. The dale fell confessional-quiet. I had an alleluia moment then and yearned for a time when the world was young. A small thorn had spiked my foot, but it didn’t break my reverie. The rain-winkled grass cast a silver sheen and the dewy air was laden with cedar-sweet smells. On impulse, I reached down and sipped from the stream. The taste was a mixture of rosewater and chalybeate that thrilled the tongue.

With a sigh, I got up forged my way homewards. It was a place with an eldritch beauty all of its own. I resolved to return one day to this halcyon paradise.

Baikal is a miracle of nature. And now I’ll tell you why.

Each person is endowed with the ability to admire nature. Perhaps there are few things in our everyday life that could instantly transform our way of thinking or the current mood. Only nature can do it.

Even without realizing the impact that nature has on us, we instinctively seek it, especially if these are the corners of the world’s ecological heritage, for example, which include Lake Baikal.

Baikal is not only a pond of huge area and fresh water capacity, it is a complex ecosystem that has a number of advantages.

Firstly, the depth of the lake is impressive. It is considered the deepest on earth. We live in Russia, on the territory of which this lake is located, and therefore we have the right to be proud of it.

Secondly, the beauty of nature around Lake Baikal is fabulous. On the banks of the reservoir you can rest among the rocky cliffs, which in their own majestic and terrible for exploration by their again sizes, but so impressive in view of the blue water of the lake, that such banks can be perceived as their defender.

Thirdly, the lake is away from chemical, heavy industry facilities that would pollute it. And this is doubly impressive.

Tourists note in one voice that, despite the fact that the end of the lake and can not see the lake water on the horizon, its banks are beautiful, and you do not want to leave them. Of course, there are many cases when both tourists and explorers died in severe Baikal waves. But how it all does not matter, when the eye pleases all natural – pure water, clear air, pristine rocky cliffs. And all this in aggregate forms a wonderful world for different species of animals and plants.

Stay five minutes on Lake Baikal, and you will understand that this place is akin to rest and Longevity, which attracts people from all over the world.