That Dammed Lake
The reason I was so drawn to observe and research this particular area of Olympia was Capitol Lake. It is quite beautiful, I must admit, but it is more the history and current controversy around it that really drew me in. The big question is “Should we return the lake to its former state as an estuary?” With the relatively little information I have so far about the issue, I know that there are many diverse viewpoints to take into consideration and that this is not so simple of an issue. When I visited the area, I couldn’t help but notice the amount of people who use the park that surrounds the lake as a place to get physical activity. How would they feel if the picturesque lake they came to be familiar with was suddenly a muddy estuary once again? What would returning the lake to its natural state do to the property values of the houses that look out over it? I noticed many ducks out on both the lake and the sound, they were quite entertaining to watch as they dove under the water and popped up quite a ways away. How would the un-damming of the lake impact them? I have these questions and so many more. It makes me feel excited to get more research and field study underway.
Here is a quick drawing of the ducks, one had just gone underwater
Have you taken notice to the other bird species in the area? Its a nice variety in my opinion. My daughter pointed out the Great Blue Heron and said something about its rarity. I checked it out and it turns out that there was some habitat preservation involving the Heron colony of Olympia. And what about that almost all white duck, looks like the Common Merganser? I wouldn’t want to loose any of them due to the sea level rise or changing it back to an estuary.