Day Four

Today we woke up to a gray sky. Heading down into town, we watched a light drizzle thump against the windshield. The weather predicted a heavy rain for the middle of the day, so we made sure to bring layers of waterproof clothes.

We meet Tom and Kemp at Cape Fear River Watch, a group that recruits volunteers to clean rivers and waterways.  Their primary job though is to educate the public of Wilmington about the importance of keeping the river's in and around the city clean from pollutants.

We went to Greenfield Lake, a short drive from the River Watch station. Our job was to pull out invasive plants that had taken over the lake's . The big offender was Water Hyacinth, a stinky plant that had long roots and four pods.

We headed out in pairs, ready to go. We would row, stop, pick up the Hyacinths with our pool nets and throw them in the back of our canoe. 

Half an hour in, a light drizzle began to fall but not anything like the torrent predicted. The hardy Vermonters were not phased, but the impending weather forecast started making Kemp and Tom nervous.We were called back onto land, to the disappointment of all of us. Louise and Starcie in particular felt cheated out of more wet and dirty fun.

Tom took us back onto land for a lesson about the history of the lake and the ecology of the lake. Apparently, Greenfield Lake used to be one of the cleanest bodies of water in Wilmington. It's powerful flow of water powered a mill and at one time a bottled water company used it to fill it's fancy water. The healthiness of the species in the lake poses challenges, but many pollutants can be prevented from entering the lake with the help of the River Watch and it's volunteers.

Below are some Important Concepts from the day: 

Turbidity- The amount of cloudiness of the water. (This happens when sediment runs into the water during high rains. This is important because this is in fact, the main pollutant for the Lake!)

Eutrophic: The level of algae in the water after a bloom

Some Pollutants that go into the river during high rains: Fertilzers, Herbicides, Pesticides, Trash, Dog waste, particulates

Sara L