Dear Friends of Lake Waramaug:
So, maybe it’s possible that you’ve been able to dodge our communications about the clarity of the Lake this summer – I can’t imagine you have – but just in case let me quickly recap. In June and early July, our Secchi disk clarity readings were off-thecharts good. They blew away all previous records. Folks were finding things off their docks they’d lost years before. As the summer progressed, the Lake gradually reverted toward more normal levels, but overall, it was the clearest year on record. Good as it was, the murk-causing cyanobacteria are still there. They’re just down at depths where they are innocuous to swimmers and sunlight alike. The blooms they cause are still possible. We believe any blooms that do occur, however, will be short-lived because of the improvements we’ve made to the immune system of the Lake.
There have been other successes this year as well (more inside). Invasive weed levels have dropped to historically low levels; so much so that our botanists and divers were unable to find any in their second round of monitoring this summer. We built and launched our research boat, on which Sean and Kelsey have entertained more than 100 folks on our weekly sampling runs. Many of these participants were children and it was wonderful to see these future conservationists fascinated by the science of maintaining the health of the Lake as our staff demonstrated their techniques.
While by far the biggest reason for the improvement in the Lake is the cumulative effect of 40 years of work by the dedicated Task Force board and staff, recent additions to the staff have certainly quickened the pace. Over the past two years we’ve raised the Executive Director position from part to full time and hired a part-time research assistant – both of whom are trained scientists. Doing so has allowed us to bring inhouse some of our water quality monitoring and research, thereby reducing expenses generated by outside consultants. We do our absolute best to contain our costs and over the past two years our aggregate operating expenses have actually declined.
Unfortunately, our donations have drifted lower over the same span and we’ve come up a bit short in both years. It’s not a desperate situation but it is clearly unsustainable. That’s why we are asking our faithful donors to do their best to maintain, or hopefully increase their support. We can’t do it without you, and the continuation and efficacy of our programs depend on it.
Most of all, thanks to all of you for your support of the Lake -- and the Task Force!
Peary Stafford
Chair, Lake Waramaug Task Force