I saw a possible future today. Right there before me. A sign of changing times, of changing patterns and traditions. Spoken about widely by some, hush-hush by others. “It’s just nature,” she said to me with doubt in her eyes. Holding to the company line. Her feet red and itchy. Her kayak paddle the perfect matching green to the algae bloom suffocating the surface. “Don’t touch your face.” She knows it’s more than that but just can’t bring herself to say it. “See that blue/green?” he asks me. “Along the edges where the green has begun to dry.” “Yes,” I said. “That’s cyanide.” “I’ve not seen that here before, but it’s toxic.” “One teaspoon and it will kill your dog.”
I come to mind my own business. To assemble, paddle out, wet a line and be on the water, but it is impossible to avoid the predicament. Maybe if I paddle away it won’t be so bad. Maybe the other side is “normal.” “Would you eat the fish you caught today?” she asks. “No, never,” I reply. After the first few casts I put the gear away and paddle back toward the van. There is a “hope for the best” mentality here, everywhere perhaps. “Maybe it’s temporary,” someone says. “We just need some wind.”
The data shows something else.
Frequency and duration changes. More often and more potent. Swim beach closers, warning signs and lost revenue. People getting sick. That’s data for you. Right there, in your face, but debatable now if there is money to be made. Park rangers, local police, and game wardens patrol the parking lots and broken down facilities. Where is the money going? What happens next? Why do we need permits and licenses if the lake can kill us and the facilities don’t work?
One possible future. This is not “his” fault.(For you radicalized types.) This is “our” fault. Our numbers, habits and tendencies are just too much. Again, the data. It’s pretty darn clear, but what matters now is what happens now. My guess, not much. We as a species tend to begin the learning process just after the point of no return. We blame, deny and shift responsibility. “Today is worse than yesterday,” he said. A local. Retired. Living the dream on the edge of a brilliant green paradise.
I’ll be coming back here. Not for the leisure activities. I’ll be back to document. For the survivors maybe. Somewhere down the line. That’s what I find myself doing now, with my camera that is. Documenting the disappeared, the less fortunate and the endangered. Not for the now but the later. When I’m gone, hopefully. “Oh ya,” they will say. “There used to be these things called lakes, and people swam in them.” Back before the end times. Back when we had a chance to make right.
PS: There are still lakes in New Mexico that don’t have toxic algae blooms but the numbers are dwindling fast. There were people who said the bloom was contained near the shoreline, but I paddled most of the lake and was never once algae free. I had to decontaminate my canoe with bleach. This is not a political issue. This is about science and changing Earth patterns.
Comments 27
Here in Iowa our state’s “nutrient reduction strategy” is voluntary. You can guess how well that’s going.
Author
Yes, some baffling strategies have become pervasive these days.
DM, this is a great piece, both in words and photos. Plus, this situation is scary sounding and looking. Is there any “natural” solution? Like if it rained in biblical proportions, would this be cured, or is too late?
Author
Sure, much more rain, and more movement of that water. Bringing the temps back down. Not likely.
Read “The Devil’s Element: Phosphorous” by Dan Egan. Informative on this issue but also pretty terrifying.
Gonna add that to my TBR, thanks for the recommendation!
Author
Oh, I like that. Well, you know what I mean.On hold..
Immediately after a video telling us that mixing Black & White and Color is impossible or at least difficult to do right… Uncle Danno does it for the right reason! This is a first glimpse of your “New Mexico Waters” project I assume?
Author
The details my friend, the details. BOOKS. I was asked about doing that in book form. A blog post is something else. And I had a REASON for the black and white. Not just randomly choosing it for no apparent reason.
A couple of passing thoughts: I wondered if the pooch in the trailer had any shade or water available; I also wondered why, in light of a recent video, you elected to mix colour and black and white, especially as colour was so much stronger for the purpose of the article. I really like your staccato way of phrasing some of these pieces…
Author
Detail Rob, gotta listen to the details. I was asked about black and white and color in books. Narrative. A blog post is something else entirely. And the black and white images had a purpose behind them, not just randomly chosen.
I think more accurately its not >only< a political issue. Its also societal and cultural requiring a paradigm shift at every level to lessen the impact of the downward spiral we are in right now. Fatalistic perhaps, but I doubt as a species we have the collective willpower necessary to turn things around. We'd rather look for a silver bullet or put our heads in the sand.
Also, on your recommendation, recently completed Craig Childs' "Apocalyptic Planet". Excellent read even though I had to look up word definitions every other page.
Author
Yes, I just posted about Craig’s book. I love ALL his books. And I agree with you, as a species, it feels like most of us have given up.
I read an article today that all Olympic and professional swimmers pee in the pool. It’s just more convenient than scrambling to the bathroom and shimmying out of tight latex. Swimmers try to avoid “the warm spots.” Then I read your piece with the lake of cyanide death. So now I think I’m just going to go back to bed.
Author
Who doesn’t love peeing in a pool. Especially a public pool.
This writing is superb. I’m glad you documented this…People need to realize what’s going on around them. We had not one, not two, but THREE sewage leaks into the Clinch River in the last four years. That should never happen…no one does maintenance around our area anymore because no one wants to work. Not to mention how horrible our hospitals are in this area.
Author
Yep, we are slipping. Lazy and angry don’t make for smart decisions.
Hi Dan, last year we had toxic algae’s in Baltic see. In salt water.. In a water that used to be so chill during summer that is was turning kids into smurfs if they played to long. This year is quite cold and rainy, but weather is changing rapidly and getting more violent every year. But we have so many topics (beyond stupid) that are keeping general public busy that nobody cares about important stuff.
Author
Yikes, that’s so “Gulf of Mexico” of you. A dead zone. Massive and growing daily. Heads in the sand.
Curious, blog posts mix color & BW…photobooks, no? (Also love the documentary aspect of this post, but still thinking about your Q&A film)
Author
Books no, posts yes. Don’t take my word for it. Go look at a good photobook store. Not that you can’t find a mix but it’s damn rare. And for reasons.
There are quite a few issues that can be taken away from this post. Curiosity dictates that I ask the more benign questions; is the lake in question fairly shallow? Small? has its source and/or outflow been drastically changed due to drought?
This is Cochiti Lake, which is part of the Rio Grand River flood control system in central New Mexico. The amount of water present can vary quite a bit but the dam that forms the lake is one of the largest earthen fill dams in the world. I’ve stood at its base and I can verify that it is huge. So this is a big body of water (for now anyway).
Author
You are correct sir.
Author
Large, for us, and constant level but that does mean constant inflow and outflow.
Daniel-san: IMHO, one of your best posts ever. Brilliant….
Author
Thank you. Glad that it resonates.