False River . . .

A couple of years back there was a raging controversy that the lake eco-system was in trouble.  Biologists wanted to lower the water level drastically, then allow it to rise again.  They said that was the natural cycle and would restore the lake.  The US Corps of Engineers wanted to dredge the ends of the lake to remove the years of silt that had built up.

Things were moving along smartly until lake side residents protested that lowering the lake would cause their homes, their cabins, their beloved camps to have structural damages.  This they said was unacceptable.  And the US Corps of Engineers wanted some monetary contribution to add to their funds.  In austere times that is not going to happen.   The bally ho stopped, so called progress was halted in its tracks.

Oh the biologists were upset.  Their grand experiment had been side lined.  The lake was doomed they said.
Well I saw something that I had not seen since I was a kid.  I saw mullet jumping, not once but several times.  I noted the grass influx had greatly diminished (could be that there was some treatment to reduce the water plants).  But I know for a fact that the lake side homes and camps were all now connected to proper sewer systems.  That means "grey water," discharge from septic systems has been greatly reduced.  It means the discharge from washing machines that release phosphates from laundry soaps was no longer going into the lake.  In short the lake was cleaning itself up

We now have a significant population of Green Heads - Mallard ducks, that reside here year round.  Wild life is up, not down.  We see all sorts and kinds of water fowl. Great Blue Herons, Pelicans, and White Egrets.  Little birds never left and the Purple Martins that migrate in from Brazil to feed on the insects and raise their young are teeming.

Yes, False River is very much alive.  It is the summer Mecca of Baton Rouge and now people from all come to this backwater of America.  It is a semi-resort now days.  New houses and camps abound around the lake.  I say the biologist were wrong.  The US Corps of Engineers just wanted to get their hands in control of the lake.  That's not going to happen either, perhaps that is a good thing.

Ole Man River just keeps on rolling along.