As I write, Winchester and Highland Lake are in the deepest and most gripping stage of the winter season. The lake waters have been transformed from a liquid state of 75+ degrees F at the surface to the solid ice of 32 degrees F. The air temperature has dropped to single digits and occasionally below zero. Baby, it’s cold outside!

It occurs to me there are many parallels in nature; people, animals, vegetation, soils, waterbodies, rocks and air all respond to the changes in climate and the overall environment. The hours of daylight, temperature, amount and type of precipitation affect our planet and all its creatures “great and small.” The seasons progress relative to the sun that is the center of the earth’s solar system. As the earth shifts on its axis and some places move further from the sun, its source of heat, the daylight hours change as does the temperature, These two variables impact all aspects of our world, although in reverse if you live in the other hemisphere.

During the winter, here at Highland Lake, we the people become less physically active. Although we don’t go into the depth of hibernation as the black bears, the cold, wind, ice and snow tend to keep us indoors and become more sedentary. Some folks choose to migrate south along with the more fragile birds, bees and butterflies. Trees lose their leaves, conifers curl up to keep warm and annual plants die hoping the seeds they sowed will perpetuate them the next season.

The lake also goes into a form of hibernation. Some aquatic plantlife dies while others, such as our invasive Eurasian and Variable Milfoil, wither to the root but survive and regrow when more sunlight warms lakewaters in the spring. Other aquatic plants die in a similar pattern to their earthbound annual relatives.

The sun is the single, largest factor in the life cycle a lake experiences in a year. During the winter, the lake responds to the decreasing amount and intensity of heat and light it generates. The lakewater temperature becomes homogenous or similar from the surface to the lakebed.

The annual aquatic plants succumb and the perennials become dormant. The seeds from perennial plants attempt to survive in the silt at the bottom of the lake. Algae can survive in sediment for years and perhaps decades. Some algae species actually require a period of dormancy before they will germinate when provided sufficient sunlight, warmth and nutrients. Highland Lake has witnessed this occurrence lately with filamentous algae (many algae cells linked together in a chain which, collectively, look like cotton candy) growing abundantly on much of the shoreline last summer.

Aquatic animal life (fish, turtles, snakes, snails, etc.) continue in their daily task of seeking food for survival. However, they may become quite dormant and not require much nutritional enrichment.

Thus, the invisible activity in the lakewater parallels our own reduced activity and attempts to survive. Thankfully, one thing that differentiates humans from other forms of life on our planet is our intelligence (ability to think, speak, reason, theorize, analyze, synthesize, manipulate the environment, etc.). I invite you to spend some of your “downtime” this winter to think of what you can do in your personal lives that will help preserve your watershed property and enhance the health of Highland Lake before the warmth of spring returns, ice-off occurs, and nature awakens from its hibernation.

Now, I flashback to last fall. Many of you were involved in closing your seasonal or year-round homes and cottages, raking leaves and preparing gardens for the winter. My husband Gerry and I conducted our final water testing and sampling for the season on October 7; the results were typical. The water temperature had dropped from a high of 80 degrees F at the surface in August to 62 degrees. The oxygen was still “depleted” (less than 1% dissolved oxygen) below 8 meters or 26 feet from the surface. I am watching this trend closely!

Aquatic Control Technologies, the company that applies the herbicide Diquat to control the invasive Eurasian and Variable Milfoil weeds, sent the final report regarding their work and observations during the summer of 2008. Upon returning to the lake in September to observe and record the results of their herbicide treatment, it was written “The 2008 Reward Herbicide treatment program performed at Highland Lake achieved excellent control of the nonnative milfoil growth…(they) were nearly eliminated from all of the targeted areas.” “Some regrowth was observed in the designated treatment areas late in the growing season. As a result, we expect milfoil regrowth will occur within these areas in 2009. We therefore recommend treatment of the newly identified milfoil areas and this anticipated regrowth be performed in 2009.”

Coincidentally, the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection offered a new grant program to control invasive species of land and aquatic plants. After reviewing the requirements for the grant proposal and gaining the cooperation of the Town of Winchester, I wrote a proposal for $15,000 to cover the cost of next year’s application of the herbicide Diquat to control the invasive milfoil species in Highland Lake. I await the response that is due on February 15. I’ll let you know how we faired in the stiff competition for the DEP funding.