Please stop trashing Lake Wazee

[john j]

Pearl Lake in my opinion is basically an underwater garbage dump. If it wasn't for the man made items sunk there, it would have absolutely no use other than basic SCUBA training. It's small, shallow, extremely crowded, overused, and the vis is nowhere near what Wazee has.

Oronogo has some nice features with the caverns and shafts, plus some nice depth but again it's a real junkyard because of the items placed in it and especially around it.

Wazee has the depth, size, visibility and natural underwater features that put it in a league of it's own. Why we would need to add man-made junk to it is something I cannot understand and will do everything in my power to oppose. Why is a piece of intentionally placed junk suddenly interesting to some people when it is underwater? It's bad for the environment anyway. There is no way you can clean that stuff up to a degree where it is safe to be in direct contact with the water table. Humans are the only species dumb enough to intentionally and knowlingly trash the environment which they depend on for survival and it will catch up with us eventually.

If you want to add to your diving experience, take some more training classes, go deeper, take pictures, go wreck diving, try some different equipment or something. If diving is still that boring to you, do something else. I've been diving like a maniac for 16 years now and I'm still not bored with it and still have only begun to learn and accomplish what can be done.

[Chadwick]

Why not put a sign down by the trees? I'm sure you guys could come up with something creative and get the point accross.
Hmm, anyone have Arbor Day ribbons?

[jasondbaker]

John, I agree with you to a certain extent. I agree that the "pink flamingo" stuff should go. If someone wants to donate a small freighter to sink at Wazee I'm all for it. I would be happy and my guess is that the fish would be happy too.

I don't look at Wazee the same way I might look at a naturally formed lake. Wazee, by its very existence, is more commercial. We dug it up, let it fill with water, and stocked it with fish. We do have an obligation to respect the environment that we have created. But my threshold for what I find acceptable is lower in this context.

On a related note, I wonder what kind of impact all that iron ore has on the water . Further, I wonder if that impact is more or less severe than the junk that is placed into the water.

[LKunze]

If Wazee is bad look at Crosby. Some of the lakes there have loads of trash in them...chairs, clothing, shoes, etc. I've even heard a couple reports of seeing turds in the water. Get out the hazmat suits! :o :-X

[Inspirationdiver]

The wrecks up at Isle Royale are all natural shipwrecks. After each wreck event, steps were taken to salvage what they could. Look at the pilothouse of the Congdon, everything was taken out while it was still floating. It would cost INCREDIBLE amounts of money to try to clean them up as they are now. How much money was spent in the efforts to raise the America? Look at where she still sits.

[Gramps]

At this point, that's what they are: "wrecks". Anything of value that could be safely salvaged from the vessel was removed. This leaves only the steel hulls which have some, if little, monotary value. As far as any enviromental concerns I've spent plenty of time around New England commercial fishermen to know that unless the Coast Guard enforces it, no one cares about any environmental impacts. All that matters is how much the insurance company is gonna pay out for the loss. I would guess that on some of the Royal wrecks engine oil, fuel, and grease still makes it's way slowly out of the hulls. The Arizona down in Pearl Harbor still "bleeds" oil to this day.

[Chris]

I'm probably the 'lone diver' on this one, but I kind of miss the old 'divers playground'. That was one of my first experiences scuba diving when I did my OW there. I thought it was really cool, and not so bad because it was all in one section. I can see everyone's point, but it's not like we have a whole lot of colorful items to look at around here.

I'm not disagreeing, I can see where you're going with this... but I do miss that part. Glad I got some pictures before it was taken out.

[tewest]

Lake Wazee Trash or Treasure:

Topic # 1 the trees in Lake Wazee. That is a no brainier. We need to do what we can to preserve them for as long as we can. So instead of just shouting an opinion please take the time to offer some suggestions that we can take to the park department.
Below are a few of mine.

How do we do that?
„«   #1 We need to form a group of people that are concerned about the lake and the facilities it offers to us the divers that use it. I have started the process of forming a dive club. I am in the process of obtaining a non-profit LLC for ¡§Friends of Lake Wazee Scuba Club¡¨. Hopefully there will be enough interest to develop some influence with the County Board. The park department is on our side. My past experience along these lines tells me that there is a lot of talk, but when it comes to dollars and time, those that say the most do little to support what they have preached.
„«   #2 We all need to talk to or somehow notify people using the lake, before they get in the water. After you witness someone trashing the trees, a considerable amount of damage has been done that never will be replaced no mater how you react to the situation after the dive.
„«   #3 We need to get every instructor that brings open water students to the lake, to make the trees and there protection a part of every dive briefing they do for there new divers. We also have to extend these same concerns to all of our students every time we do a continuing education course. And from what I have personally witnessed it would not be a bad idea to do the same in the dive briefings for the supposedly more advanced diver doing there training dives for decompression and mixed gas.
„«   #4 We need to get a handout printed to be handed to divers when they register, the attendant can ask if there is anyone that has not dove at the lake and offer the hand out to them. This is something I think would work well and is relatively inexpensive.
„«   #5 We need the county to post some signs at the main dive sites, as well as the entrance. I will be calling the man in charge of the county parks tomorrow, to find out if this is possible, and to what extent they may need the users(that¡¦s us) to participate.
„«   #6 Caution
We need to exercise caution when we approach anyone from Jackson Counties County board. I have been at the county board meetings for other changes concerning the park such as fees and event use, and a few of them are just looking for a reason to stop diving, as well as other water sports right down to swimming. They feel any use other than fishing will degrade the lake. So before anyone goes too far on any one topic please consider the consequences.

Topic # 2
The stuff in the lake.
This one is a little tougher than the first as to gaining a consensus, but I would wager it is pretty clear cut as a legal issue. In the state of Wisconsin (as I have been led to believe) it is illegal to put any foreign mater in any public body of water. Hat means that any one doing so is breaking a state littering law. Why would a statue be any different than a beer can or a soda bottle?
I personally like to have some places to take students that they can identify and plan around. I am also a big fan of the natural beauty of things. That is why most people dive. Remember one mans trash is another mans gold.
I do not have any solutions on this one other than a total ban sanctioned and enforced by the county or allowing certain items as allowed by the powers to be.
To everyone:
Good diving.

[Chris]

Trash is trash I suppose...

I don't think that divers are the main source of the problem however, I think it's more the fisherman. I don't think I've ever seen a diver drinking a Bud or Pepsi while diving, or eating a Snickers... Also, boat anchors and tackle get snagged on the trees as well, so it's not the divers fault completely.

Whether this is man-made or natural 'lake' doesn't really matter, it's a great dive site and I'd also like to keep it that way since it's the closest place for me to go and actually have some visibility. However putting a few trinkets in a designated location is interesting to me, might not be for everyone. I've never brought anything down with me and probably never will. If nothing ever gets brought into a dive location, it's not going to effect me one way or the other. I miss the old 'divers playground' but I can live without it too. I have the most fun watching the bass and other wildlife down there than I do looking at odd stuff that normally wouldn't be there unless we brought it down.

To each their own...

[Gramps]

Who'd have thunk?! Back country mentality "my sport is the only sport that matters" BS like this? Ok, let's put a little perspective on this: You see a lot more PAYING divers than PAYING fishermen. And, I would venture to guess that the diver figure grows a bit each year, right? So that equals= bubble money talks, bait buckets walk. Unless a huge swing occurs and suddenly tech-trout is all the rage, doubt anyone is gonna wanna disrupt the cash flow that comes from divers in each year. Keep diving kiddies and for cripe sakes be nice to the trees!