Grand Lake St. Mary Ohio

We are in this area not because we hand picked it, but because work brought us here.  Which meant I knew nothing about the area before we came, beyond a quick Google search.  I saw we would be staying on a huge lake, which was exciting to me.  Then we arrived and realized that the lake was off limits because it is toxic right now.  When I say off limits, I mean don't even let your dog come in contact with the water because it will die if it does.  After doing some research, we realized that what has happened here is the very same thing that the Oyster aquaculture farmer told us would happen in Virginia if something doesn't change.

Due to nitrates in the runoff from farms and yards close to the water, the oysters can't survive.  If the oysters die, then the algae overgrows.  When it hits a certain point, it is toxic and the water is unsafe.  So much so that boating is not even advised.  I can tell you from being here, that we have felt a heavy grief seeing this beautiful lake just sitting there.  We noticed the birds won't even land in the water.  It is a similar feeling to seeing huge trees uprooted after a hurricane.  To see a living thing that was once grand become so damaged is just sad, there is no way around it.

Today as we were driving around for work, we visited a nearby town that also has a lake.  As soon as we pulled close to the lake we saw life there.  Birds were in the water.  People on jet skis and boats were enjoying the water.  There was joy there.  We sucked in our breaths and said oh wow...this is what it is supposed to be like.  You see, in just a short time it was as if we were beginning to forget what it is supposed to be like when there is a large body of water.  I got choked up thinking that my children might hit a time when they forget what the lake was like when we were boating and tubing in Chesapeake.  The Ghost Town feeling might seem normal to them at some point if there isn't a drastic change to prevent what happened here from happening there.  I'm not sure what our part is in all of this, but we are pondering it quite a bit at this point.

In the meantime we are trying to talk to the people that do live here and learn more.  It's been educational to say the least.