Ugh! Could it get any worse? An algea bloom has been suffocating the pond for over two weeks.
Our community, along with the rest of the Midwest, is experiencing drought again. There has not been enough rain in recent months to effect a good flow of the River Raisin through the pond. And this is the result.
Contaminants from unregulated farm runoff and the application of fertilizers to residential lawns are taking a toll on the river. The water is stagnant. And with no movement, everything seems to have come to a halt. Now it’s not unusual to have an algae bloom or two in the Springtime – after the farmers finish planting and fertilizing and the chem lawn trucks have rolled through the neighborhood. But usually by this time of the year, everything has washed downstream. So it is unusual to see the pond in this state of affair so far along in the season.
I watch as a carp breaks through the morass with an overly slow, lethargic motion. How different it looks now to earlier in the season when they were spawning! They were swimming around with unbounded enthusiasm – so lively. The water was clear and you could see hundreds of them racing around the edge of the pond. Now this? “Bloop!” the thick soupy water gives way as the fish breaks the surface – green slime adheres to his back as he pushes through the filth. I wonder how can the poor creature even breathe in this muck?