I was told yesterday by soon-to-depart Youth Department Director and all-around nice person, Liz Yorck, that DEC's recent test of water from Oakdale Lake passed, allowing swimming in our only public swimming hole (at least for now). Hooray! (Of course, this was not the case beginning early in August last year.) Liz also informed me of something else I was not aware of: that lifeguards had been at the lake last weekend keeping an eye on things and that they would also be in their chairs this weekend and beyond. I asked Liz if swimming was allowed with so much algae on the surface for swimmers to contend with, to which she responded that the algae was a sign of a healthy water ecosystem. (The lead picture was taken yesterday, June 3rd.)
A few weeks ago, in an apparent effort to make the swimming area swimmable and more palatable to the eyes and skin, several volunteers were in the water and at the water's edge removing weeds and algae with rakes. They collected quite a bit of the green stuff, depositing it in a compost area behind the garage. The effort was in vain; it all came back quickly, and more.
Is there anything sadder than having nowhere to swim locally during the summer (or in the spring when it's 85 degrees or more)? Just lazing on the beach isn't very much fun if you don't even want to put your toes in the water or have to look out at such a messy, ugly body of water, especially one that was so refreshing and reliable just a few years ago. What a friggin' bummer!
Sorry about the "good news."
Does it seem odd (wrong?) to anyone else that the city hasn't posted an announcement on its website of the good news that the swimming season has begun at Oakdale? Most cities would be all over this, right? Swimming is good for us. Swimming makes people happy. Swimming, for many, is one of life's pleasures. Swimming areas bring people together. Most children love to be in or near water. And swimming (or just wading) is free! Of course, if Kamal Johnson were to post an announcement on the city's website, he would have to find a photo taken of Oakdale from years ago, certainly not from last year or this year. How about one from the 1950's or 60's showing half of the city enjoying Oakdale, either in the lake or on the beach and without a god damn care in the world? Now that would be cruel!
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| Painful! (Courtesy of the HAL History Room, photos available online.) |
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| The ropes on the surface, which anchor the dock and delineate the swimming area, tend to trap algae inside the swimming area, right up to the beach. |
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| Does this pass the test? (Tuesday, June 3rd) |
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| Algae can be washed out with a big rain, but the submerged weeds cannot be. They are becoming more and more of a problem every year, and I've never seen it this bad so early in the year. |
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| Volunteers removing aquatic weeds and algae from in front of the beach. (May 16th) |
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| Not a spot of algae, and likely no nasty submerged weeds! (From the looks of the parked cars, this is likely from the 1940's or early 50's.) |
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