Did you come to the Lake Erie WaterFest at Miller Park this past weekend? If you did, we hope you liked it. If you didn't, you missed out on a great event.
The underlying goal of WaterFest
was to help sensitize people to the benefits and plight of Lake Erie. Living
here beside 20 percent of the world's fresh surface-water supply can make us
take things for granted. Lake Erie contains about 130 trillion gallons of
water—a sizeable amount by any standard and one that you think would be hard to
pollute. However, when about 13 million to 26 million pounds of phosphorus
along with a host of other pollutants enter the lake each year, even 130
trillion gallons can be affected.
Lake Erie is vital to us in
countless ways. Therefore, its protection is also vital to us. The water we
drink comes from Lake Erie. Avon Lake Regional Water removes contaminants so
that the water is safe to drink. The more polluted it is, the more it costs to
treat; and these costs are passed on to you through the rates we charge. Living
on the lake, all of us enjoy the lake in our own ways. Swimming, fishing,
boating, birding, picture taking, and sunsetting are just some of the ways we
enjoy the lake. Each of these are diminished in some way as the lake becomes
more polluted.
On a macroeconomic scale,
Lake Erie is home to an $11.5 billion per year tourism industry. Additionally,
steel mills and other heavy manufacturing originally started here because of the
lake. As water stress becomes more pronounced in other parts of the country,
the region has the opportunity to bring industry back. Some cities are already
promoting their bounty of water. Milwaukee has taken it a step farther and is
trying to spur innovation as a water technology hub: http://alwtr.us/MilHub. Cleveland has
recently given approval for a $700 million development project along the lake: http://alwtr.us/CleDevel.
Back to the WaterFest. Each
of the activities was centered around our uses of the lake. More than 100 of
us, my wife and I included, took part in Avon Lake's first triathlon. We swam
in Lake Erie and then biked and ran along the lake. Many—young and old alike—tried
out kayaking and paddleboarding at the Miller Road Park beach. The grins on
their faces were huge. The fishing demonstrations were busy throughout the day,
and some even caught their first fish ever. Artisans sold nature-inspired art.
I believe the lake theme provides a sense of peace and identity to which we all
can relate. The organizations tasked with protecting Lake Erie were able to
share their missions with about 1,000 WaterFest
attendees while keeping the kids entertained.
Lake Erie is important to us
all. Individually, none of us can do enough alone to protect it. Collectively,
we can assure that Lake Erie remains the treasure that it is. So, please do
your part. Thanks for coming to the Lake Erie WaterFest. We hope to see you
next year.
