THE WATERWAYS AND THE TRUTH

     We have not had much rain lately and the lakes and canals are low in depth and shrinking in width even as we grow more beachfront property. We cannot do a thing about the rain but we sure as shootin' need to take advantage of the low waters to see where trouble lies and DO something!
     Walking over the Wellington bridge, I nearly passed out! The bottom of the waterway is totally gross, disgusting to the nth degree. It is full of ugly green gook or whatever, at the bottom, never having been there before and we have seen that waterway dry. What is that green gunk and why are we not getting rid of it? Why have we not seen some experts who know what they are doing roaming the waterways of the Village and coming up with solutions that WORK.
     For years already we have been hearing about the aeration of the waters of the Clubhouse lake or Chatham lake. We have put in geo tubes at great expense - and always having to be fixed. We have added onerous rules about the waterways (along with other rules that govern life here in the Village) and I keep hearing that those lake areas are oh, so much better but guess what? The "proof" they give is all gobbledygook and in techno speak. How about plain English and how about plain statistics about the content of the water? How about the other lakes of the Village? I do not live in the Clubhouse or by its lake but I, and thousands of others, do live alongside other lakes and they are not to be ignored.
     Oh, the lake shores by the Clubhouse are ever so much prettier than they were what with all the new plantings there and alongside the Clubhouse itself, yet another instance of us prettying up Levy's building at our expense. Well, we need real work on the waterways and in the waters themselves.
     A few months ago I read of the cleanup, the successful ongoing cleanup of the Gowanus Canal, one of the stinkiest and filthiest waterways of the world, yet it is progressing. A new technique of using a specially constructed small island, not a large thing, but one we could even manage, and how it filters the incoming water. Why not do that along with insisting that the County itself or the State or whomever is responsible for that water entering our waterways do something about the chemicals and minerals that are in the water in incorrect and harmful amounts?
     I gave the article to Eva who made a copy and said she would talk or show it to Don. Well, folks, Don has come a long ways since he started off with David Israel and won favor by becoming a shill for him and sending me nasty emails. He has stopped that and we now talk to each other in a civil manner when there are issues to be discussed, but.....but.... while Don has been instrumental in getting a bus stop problem fixed, Don is not a chemist nor an engineer nor a scientist or gone thru years of schooling and experience with waterways and their needs and regeneration and neither has David Israel. In fact, I am sure that any idea that came from me was automatically discarded! Why not talk to experts who are actually in the field, who have actually met with success? Too simple, hmmm?
     The other day I was told that the presence of an alligator family near Northampton was a sign that the waters are clearing up because evidently the alligators like fresh clear water. Hmmm. Could have fooled me and the alligators who like to live in the nasty canals of Florida and in the swamps - and maybe even in the sewers of NYC! (lol)
     Seriously, all the tinkering around and dealing with the symptoms rather than the cause is in error. Going to the source along with treatment of the current waters is the way to go. Ask any woman and she will tell you, yes, one sweeps the mud and sand off the floors but one also goes to the source and stops that in order to stop the sand - so no shoes inside, or a big mat at the door, or a boot scraper or whatever is needed. I have the patience and yes, the brain, to get involved here but that will NEVER happen and we all know why, don't we? But I could care less about who works on this as long as they work with sense, scientific and common, and realize that this is a problem whose time has long come and which is getting worse. Just take a sniff at some of the canals of the Village and even some lakes and then tell me again that work is succeeding? Or even being done? All I know is that I shudder when I walk over the bridge and the wind blows the water from the lake over me. Yuccchhh! Who knows what the hell is in that water?
     This is not a problem that should be taken up and divided along partisan lines. I believe I would even work with the devil if he knew the secret path to take to fix our waterways. Hmmm, perhaps he is already here? (arf, arf)