Lake Martin Drought Update
Posted by: Dunn Center Staff
Much has been said about the ‘07 drought across the southeastern United States. According to Alabama Power representatives, we are now in the 3rd year of drought conditions.
We have certainly seen the effects of the drought here at Easter Seals Camp ASCCA and Lake Martin.
With the lake level currently over 15 feet below full pool and 5 feet below minimum winter pool, our floating dock has pretty much been rendered unusable.
Although the end of the dock still has about 4 feet of water, the steepness of the ramp is a bit unsafe. Our boat ramp, which is normally usable all winter, is completely in the dry.
Our summer and fall programs continued full blast, but we did have to make special accommodations. The canoeing program moved to the other side of camp with deeper water and the tubing/ski programs had to carry wheelchair users out to the edge of the water to access the tube and boat. 
We are also concerned about the levels of our 2 on site streams and the fish pond. Both streams had been reduced to almost no flow but recent rains have now produced a small trickle. This is very important since we will start offering environmental camps in the spring and utilize the streams for our Living Streams program.
The pond is down but has survived remarkably well and groups continue to use it. The long term effects of the drought remain to be seen.
There are many environmental concerns such as the types of vegetation growing in the lake bed, effect on muscles (many whom have perished in the dry lake bed) and the food chain, and water quality. Just
encouraged by reports that Alabama Power has received permission to allow more water having adequate amounts of water for towns and cities is also a concern.
We have been than normal to accumulate over the winter, but we’ll need some good rains to achieve that goal. It is mere speculation when things will return to normal.
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The Dunn Center is open for viewing and use by all our summer campers and by appointment for outside groups or individuals. Environmental Science Camps are also available for school groups this fall and spring.
The day camps, offered April 23-25, saw about 90 students each day and were the result of a push by the school to introduce their students to environmental issues and give them “hands on” exposure to assist in learning.
Each student that came was able to do water testing on the lake, including use of an Aquascope to assist in determining water clarity. Students learned about birds indigenous to our area and were able to build blue bird houses as well. Tree identification, learning about the hydrologic water cycle and earth layers related to water, were also part of the program. Everyone learned about our land, water, and sky at the Dunn Environmental Center and learned team building dynamics at the pavilion.
This activity went hand in hand with the material the instructors covered on the hydro-logic cycle.
