While Milton may have Lost Paradise in 1667, I believe we have found it in our little corner of Atlanta. The dictionary defines Paradise as "any place of ideal beauty or loveliness". Curiously, there is a photo of Berkeley Lake in the margins, as an example. Okay, maybe not – but there is also another definition of Berkeley Lake and that is community. Time and time again, I've witnessed the kindness and compassion of the community coming together to support a neighbor in a time of need. And unlike Blanche DuBois, as long as we live here, we feel no need to depend on the kindness of strangers, as neighbors we regard as friends surround us. The spirit of community that imbues (yup, had to look this word up in the dictionary too) Berkeley Lake is amazing. But, back to more mundane matters of business, lake quality business, that is.

Some of you may have noticed one of the ponds around Lakeshore Drive to have a brilliant yet somewhat artificial turquoise hue. And no, we have not started an early St. Patrick's Day tradition of turning water bodies green around the lake. This was done in the name of science and sediment and erosion control. As many who travel Lakeshore are aware, a developer of one of the parcels on Peachtree Industrial Boulevard has just finished dredging Chris Holben's pond that feeds our lake. While not originally designed for this purpose, the pond stands, de facto, as a brave warrior in our crusade in the protection of the lake. It collects silt from upstream of our lake before it enters Lake Berkeley. With the recent grading activities on Peachtree Industrial, silt filled the pond and required removal. In removing the silt, the pond got really stirred up. Now for the physical science lesson – the soil particles that make up our "Georgia Red" are colloidal in nature, that is, once they get stirred up in suspension it takes forever for them to settle out. For a fascinating study (snore....) on the subject, I can refer you to an article "Surface and Interfacial Tensions of Aqueous Dispersions of Charged Colloidal (clay) Particles." By placing a small amount of a specially formulated (and extremely expensive) dye and coagulant, through a bit of black magic, the soil particles bind to each other and settle to the bottom. In the meantime, the dye provides a temporary aesthetically pleasing hue to the water.

All I can say is thanks to Chris and his pond, not only is the lake clear (but deliberately not too clear – four feet of visibility – got to think of the fish) but also it has been remarkably free of fecal coliform. We have sampled seven times at the beach and seven times at the picnic grounds. We have not had a sample result above the limits for recreational waters. Based upon my purely unscientific recollections and review of data and observations over the last several years, there are many factors that contribute to this happy state of affairs:

• People have taken personal responsibility for their actions; even the smallest action makes an impact. I notice almost everybody who walks their dogs carries a little bag for the inevitable pooper-scooper duty. By keeping the poop out of the ditches, we go a long way to minimizing what makes it to the lake. I say wear those baggies with honor!
• We have been diligent in maintaining our septic systems. Keeping our on-site residential treatment systems in good repair is not an expense; it is an investment in the protection of the lake.
• The geese barricade at the beach works! Much to my surprise, geese are too dumb to jump 18 inches over the barricade to poop on the beach. I still would love to see the geese population diminish. And not feeding them would be a good start. Let them work for their food like at other lakes.
• Mother Nature has helped by not raining. No rain, no washing of surface contaminants, including fecal coliform into our lake. Remember whatever we put in our backyard can and will likely wash into our lake. Consequently, I still restrain (although not always successfully) the kids from swimming immediately after a rain event.

I plan to sample a couple more times this year but may curtail sampling next year, as it seems we have our arms around this scatological issue (figuratively, not literally). Please feel free to let me know what you think. Along those lines, if you have tips you want to share on how we all can better take care of our lake (i.e. "green" cleaning products, use of fewer clothes, whatever) or would like to opine on the lake experience drop me a line. In the meantime, I'm heading back to Paradise.