Dead fish in Shangri-La

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All around the world, lakes are in trouble--with fish kills or toxic algae blooms.  Usually, the culprit is excess nutrients washing into the lake.  It's happening even at pristine lakes, long thought to be immune to these problems.

From time to time, I'll feature problems of lakes in a different parts of the world.  The root cause is growing populations and affluence, plus the difficulty of managing thousands of small sources of nutrients.

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Indian Kashmir used to be a place people compared to mythical Shangri-La--verdant and unspoiled.  And Nigeen Lake (above), in a green valley surrounded by the Himalayas, is considered by waterways officials to the least polluted waterway in the city of Srinagar (population 1.3 million).

Lake Wingra has a "Sister Lake" in Massachusetts

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What if you had a chance to go back in time, to protect Lake Wingra, or Lake Mendota, before it became polluted?   Fantasy?  No...

Today, you have a chance to do just that... by protecting a pristine lake that looks like Lake Wingra did in 1850.

Hawksnest Pond today...
prinstine water, because the shore is perfectly preserved.

Lake Wingra has a "sister pond" in Massachusetts.  It's called Hawksnest Pond.  Hawksnest State Park is so neglected and abused it doesn't even have an official sign.

A trek to Secret Pond

The morning after a storm, three adventurers head into the wetlands of Lake Wingra, looking for the legendary "Secret Pond."

After more than two hours of soggy hiking, Gordon Heingartner said:

"I think my feet are beginning to rot!"

To be continued...

In the meantime, you can see more photos here.