Quote:
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Originally Posted by ITD
"...Erosion hasn't been that bad but you can see a fine cloud of silt in the water after every series of waves from wakes..."
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Effects of our present high-water episode won't be noticed right away.
With our series of historical high-water extremes, embankments are washed of silt, mud, duff, sand, and will reshuffle the rocks that line the shores. The grasp that trees have on the shoreline are weakened, and trees one after the other, will fall into the lake. Sunlight, now newly admitted to the shallows, will promote long strands of algae—something that wasn't present when I first saw the lake.
This tree was photographed as it's a
red pine that's succumbing at its roots and will eventually fall into the lake. Red pines seem to suffer erosion worse than white pines, and red pines in particular are declining in numbers around the lake.
There may be no better natural filter for lakewater than matted pine needles. The gradual loss of pines will likely result in greater velocity of runoff into the lake, resulting in more soil loss, faster rates of high water extremes, "improved" milfoil habitat, and more algae.