Gusher

Next Swim:
* Thursday July 27th 6PM (3-5 foot waves are predicted)
* Fri July 28th, 6AM & 5:30 PM

Last Swim: Thu 6AM
Water: 67 gently rolling, clear enough to see your hands but not the bottom
Crew: Diablo, Magic Mike, Itch, Showgirl, Patriarch

Last night's swim was washed out by heavy rain and thunder.  Itch and showed up hoping it would pass over but it just got worse right at 6PM.  So we stood under the shelter, popped open a beverage and enjoyed the majesty of a storm on the lake.

The beauty was marred however by a huge gusher of runoff (from the streets, not sewage) pouring directly into the lake from the concrete drain just north of the beach (what we inaccurately call "sewer pipe").  It created a huge turbulent river extending perhaps a hundred yards into the lake.  Even though the water seemed clear coming out of the drain, it turned ugly brown when it hit the lake, perhaps it was scouring out sand and dirt.  The current then carried the brown water south for a mile or more.  Not to mention of course all the gunk that might have flowed from streets yards and roofs.

It's sad to see our beautiful lake abused like this.  I'm no engineer but you would think something could be done to mitigate the problem, perhaps a retention pond?

P.S.  It's still possible to sign up for Sunday's Great Lake Plunge in Evanston.  I will be driving and could take two more riders.  greatlakeplunge.com