As we are approaching summer my earlier predictions for the fast return to full pool water levels for the lake was wrong. It's disappointing that we are 10 inches below normal for rainfall so far this year but at least we are not dealing with the wildfires of South Georgia near Berkeley Lake. Hopefully summer thunderstorms will help return our lake to full pool soon.

Our lake biologist, Shan O'Gorman previously of ProPonds, has changed business models somewhat and is now working with Fosters Lake & Pond Management out of North Carolina. BLHA Board of Directors has executed an agreement with Fosters Lake and Pond Management for ongoing lake maintenance and Shan will continue to be our local resource. We look forward to our continued work with Shan as he has done an excellent job of working with BLHA to maintain our lake to meet the needs of swimmers, boaters, fisherman and fish.

Most recently Shan started the yearly fertilization of the lake. This fertilization of the lake helps beneficial algae bloom which will turn the lake a nice green color. This is needed to help reduce the amount of light that penetrates the lake to help control submergent vegetation. So far this plan has worked fairly well and with the help of people refraining from the introduction of aquatic plants into the lake and our ad hoc herbicidal treatment we continue to have a lake that is mostly free of weeds.

Starting a few weeks before Memorial Day weekend I started conducting water quality tests searching for high levels of fecal coliform. The results of these tests will be posted on the BLHA web site. With the introduction of anti-geese fencing at the dam, as well as other physical changes we are making to our environment, we hope to make Lake Berkeley less attractive to the geese as habitat to control the fecal coliform levels. As our continued efforts to maintain a safe swimming lake we kindly ask that people do not feed geese or waterfowl.

That's it for May 2007. Now if we can just get some rain it's going to be a great summer on Lake Berkeley.