The recent precipitation has brought some water back in to the lake, and the mountain is currently blanketed in just under 2 inches of snow (and ICE!). The fluctuations in water level here in the past few months have been very responsive to the amounts of rain and snow due to the fact that the growing season has slowed and the forest is retaining less water. Here's to hoping for a very wet winter season on the mountain, from which we'll benefit in more ways than one!
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| Lake on Dec. 8, 2011 |
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| Gorgeous blue sky |
As you may know, the Mountain Lake Conservancy & Hotel is a participating member of
Go Green New River Valley (which you can learn more about
here!). This morning I attended the Go Green NRV Breakfast Series which featured a presentation on energy efficiency in the home and in the workplace, given by the folks at Community Housing Partners in Christiansburg. The presenters did a great job explaining how a building, whether it be your home or your workplace, works as a system when it comes to maximizing resource efficiency. One point in their discussion that really stood out to me was the difference between efficiency and conservation.
Efficiency speaks in terms of technology, while
conservation is behavior-driven. This distinction was very re-energizing for me in terms of Mountain Lake's sustainability effort. Our organization's management team strives to provide energy and resource efficiency by technologies used within the business. Additionally, the Conservancy & Hotel must work together to encourage conservation-minded behavior on the mountain by both employees and guests. It makes me very excited to re-assess the progress that Mountain Lake has made in 2011 in terms of our sustainability plan, to set goals and outline ideas for improvement in 2012, and to renew our affiliation as a Participating Business with Go Green NRV for the upcoming year.
If you work or live in the NRV, I encourage you to check out the Go Green NRV organization. Events like the Breakfast Series are educational (and fun!) and provide a great resource to community members and businesses seeking to decrease their impact on the environment. Stay tuned by checking the
ggNRV website for news and events in 2012!
I hope to see the lake fill again. I've never seen it full. I was lucky enough to see it about 2/3 full some time back. What was that? Two years ago?
ReplyDeleteYes we sure hope to see it full again soon! The lake has fluctuated a lot over the past few years. In 2008 is was completely empty save a few mud puddles at the drainage sites. It's come up and gone down with the seasons each year.
ReplyDelete