Of Fish & Men
It never ceases to amaze me what can be accomplished by mankind. Today's edition of the Herald-Times here in Bloomington just made me laugh. Read on...
Recent news here in Indiana is all about a proposed pipeline from the Monroe Resevoir (located just south of Bloomington) to Indianapolis in order to secure their water supply in severe cases such as drought. There has been much ado over this, especially since this lake is the only source of water for Bloomington as well as much, if not most, of the surrounding communities. What is amusing is what I read in the Hearld-Times today (search "Pipe dreams?" and "Pipeline plan"): this proposal is not the only option...just the only one that's been formally submitted.
I love what a representative of the Indy Dept of Waterworks says: "We don't need any water from Monroe for daily needs as long as the rains come and the rivers flow." Um...duh. But we're not so far from Indy (~50 miles), and so one has to reason that if they are experiencing drought conditions...wouldn't we also? It is true that it is a very large resevoir, but no one seems to know how much capacity it has for a daily water supply (never-you-mind that it's been around since the 60's). But apparently it is also a fragile resource, especially economically. Lake Monroe attracts a lot of tourists (I know that may sound wierd, but we're way inland with no real oceans around...we'll take what we can get!) and if the lake drops even a few feet in depth, then parts of the lake are totally unaccessable to the public who love to sail, fish, swim, and just go boating. Even at the conservative estimation of 90 million gallons of water pumped a day, it is suspected that the lake would, indeed, shrink.
Mitch Daniels (our governor) was also interviewed by the H-T. His main concern seems to agree highly with my own thoughts: if we start shipping this very high-demand resource elsewhere, what effect may that have on the efforts to grow the economy of Southern Indiana? Bloomington alone has been growing at an enormous rate in the last 10 years (trust me, this place looks nothing like it did 10 years ago, and there are at least 8 new housing editions going up at the moment). And it's been a high priority of our governor's to improve the economies of the small towns in our region during his term. Many Bloomington residents may indeed find themselves surprised, and perhaps pleasantly so, to be in agreement with Mr. Daniels on this new issue.
For more information on this topic (especially if you can't get logged onto the H-T website), you can visit: Indianapolis Star (19th), Fort Wayne's News-Sentinel (17th) (23rd), and Martinsville's Reporter-Times (it's like Q#3). If I find more interesting articles, I'll let you know.
"Now what about the fish?" you ask? Ah, well, besides the fact that fish could lose their homes to a shrinking resevoir, one of my betas has been a bit under the weather this past week. A trip to the pet store, several questions, and some good antibiotics seem to have him feeling much more like himself: his activity and eating habits returned to normal in just a few days. :) Unfortunately, though, the swelling has not decreased quite as much as I had hoped...but my informant at Delilah's said it may take 7-10 days until that is reduced. Poor fish. :(
FYI: This post is all because of the exploration Mari & I took of "Lake Fernandez" (aka Miller-Showers Park) on Saturday afternoon after visiting the pet store. It was interesting and got me thinking about water drainage, supply, quality, effect on other wildlife, etc, etc. Then of course I read a few articles in the paper this afternoon and just had to comment...or rather, inform you non-Hoosiers about our current little broo-ha-ha. Hope you enjoyed!
I think I'll try to get some good pics of the park to show you this week. It really is a neat idea they had.
Recent news here in Indiana is all about a proposed pipeline from the Monroe Resevoir (located just south of Bloomington) to Indianapolis in order to secure their water supply in severe cases such as drought. There has been much ado over this, especially since this lake is the only source of water for Bloomington as well as much, if not most, of the surrounding communities. What is amusing is what I read in the Hearld-Times today (search "Pipe dreams?" and "Pipeline plan"): this proposal is not the only option...just the only one that's been formally submitted.
I love what a representative of the Indy Dept of Waterworks says: "We don't need any water from Monroe for daily needs as long as the rains come and the rivers flow." Um...duh. But we're not so far from Indy (~50 miles), and so one has to reason that if they are experiencing drought conditions...wouldn't we also? It is true that it is a very large resevoir, but no one seems to know how much capacity it has for a daily water supply (never-you-mind that it's been around since the 60's). But apparently it is also a fragile resource, especially economically. Lake Monroe attracts a lot of tourists (I know that may sound wierd, but we're way inland with no real oceans around...we'll take what we can get!) and if the lake drops even a few feet in depth, then parts of the lake are totally unaccessable to the public who love to sail, fish, swim, and just go boating. Even at the conservative estimation of 90 million gallons of water pumped a day, it is suspected that the lake would, indeed, shrink.
Mitch Daniels (our governor) was also interviewed by the H-T. His main concern seems to agree highly with my own thoughts: if we start shipping this very high-demand resource elsewhere, what effect may that have on the efforts to grow the economy of Southern Indiana? Bloomington alone has been growing at an enormous rate in the last 10 years (trust me, this place looks nothing like it did 10 years ago, and there are at least 8 new housing editions going up at the moment). And it's been a high priority of our governor's to improve the economies of the small towns in our region during his term. Many Bloomington residents may indeed find themselves surprised, and perhaps pleasantly so, to be in agreement with Mr. Daniels on this new issue.
For more information on this topic (especially if you can't get logged onto the H-T website), you can visit: Indianapolis Star (19th), Fort Wayne's News-Sentinel (17th) (23rd), and Martinsville's Reporter-Times (it's like Q#3). If I find more interesting articles, I'll let you know.
"Now what about the fish?" you ask? Ah, well, besides the fact that fish could lose their homes to a shrinking resevoir, one of my betas has been a bit under the weather this past week. A trip to the pet store, several questions, and some good antibiotics seem to have him feeling much more like himself: his activity and eating habits returned to normal in just a few days. :) Unfortunately, though, the swelling has not decreased quite as much as I had hoped...but my informant at Delilah's said it may take 7-10 days until that is reduced. Poor fish. :(
FYI: This post is all because of the exploration Mari & I took of "Lake Fernandez" (aka Miller-Showers Park) on Saturday afternoon after visiting the pet store. It was interesting and got me thinking about water drainage, supply, quality, effect on other wildlife, etc, etc. Then of course I read a few articles in the paper this afternoon and just had to comment...or rather, inform you non-Hoosiers about our current little broo-ha-ha. Hope you enjoyed!
I think I'll try to get some good pics of the park to show you this week. It really is a neat idea they had.
affiché par petite américaine à 22:07
Always amazes me how people w/ good sense, once elected, become idiots!! Yes! if their is a drought (severe and long enough to affect a river supply!), you would assue Blmgtn, (a mere 50 miles south) would also be suffering from same said drought!! and probably wouldn't have much resources for others...esp. a large city size of Indpls.
Please pray for our elected idiots and everyone... please vote for new idiots!!! "Mom"
Actually, I believe the proposition was made by a private company to the Indy Water Dept. And I was surprised that the state gov & Bloomington's mayor both agreed that this may not be the best way to support both growing populations.
But, yeah, the thought that our supply wouldn't also be affected by the same drought just makes me laugh! :)