Moneague- a tale of flooding

Today, I went to take well readings around the Moneague lake. This lake is a pretty new feature, having come into existence about a year or so ago when heavy rains saturated the earth and the water just started to raise up beyond expected levels, as seen here in this picture. The waters stayed high, and seem to show no sign of going down...or rather, whenever they start to go down, rainfall makes it stay up. It is quite deep. Two people actually drowned there in the course of this week, how they ended up doing that I don't know. Some of the locals have made a brisk business providing a ferry service across the lake, since the lake has submerged the roads that connected communities in the lowland and it's about a 30 minute drive to go around. Me, you couldn't pay me to take them ferries. It's a two-man kayak with one lifevest, and guess who wears it? (Hint: it's not the passenger!) Just goes to show how enterprising Jamaicans can be though...

I had a few ideas of how to use this water, since it will be around for a while...it all depends on water quality and an investigation into the area's topography. A lot of sewage pits and other junk were submerged by the waters and I find it interesting how quickly an eco-system has formed around the area. I saw water-birds, fish, and aquatic plants there, so while the water isn't that chemically polluted it would require a fair bit of biological clean-up. All I've divined from the topography so far is that the region was a natural sink; one river called the Rio Hoe apparently flowed into a small pond which was the genesis of the lake...where that pondwater went, I don't know. I intend to find out.

I also took some pics of the Bog Walk Gorge, and two dogs who were romping on the lakebanks as I went around. It rained this afternoon...it's been raining every afternoon for the past few days. I like it, we needed the rain and it's surprising how the lawn has come back to life. I'll bet Hope Gardens is worth walking in now, I'll check it out after the holiday weekend. Good Friday AND Easter Monday off, ooooh yeah :D being a Jamaican has its benefits, hehehehehe...