Post by L Roebuck on Mar 18, 2007 8:07:53 GMT -5
Cavers work to save Lake Cumberland creatures
ORGANISMS SUCH AS CRAYFISH SUFFERING WITH LOWER WATER LEVEL
By Raviya H. Ismail
HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER
Most don't realize it, but the lowered water level of Lake Cumberland has affected an immense ecosystem below ground.
Those most familiar with this effect are cavers and environmentalists who spend their weekends crawling, climbing and sliding through the Sloans Valley Cave System in Pulaski County.
Several organisms, including bats, salamanders and fish and crayfish, live in the 26-mile-long cave system, which stays a constant 56 degrees throughout the year. These environmentalists are worried about the future of all the organisms living in the cave because the water levels will continually decrease for the next seven years, the length of the project to repair Wolf Creek Dam.
"Now that the Cumberlands is draining, it affects the whole ecosystem of the entire river," said Mary Zriny, an environmentalist who navigated through a part of the cave system yesterday. "So many things are dying."
Full Article
ORGANISMS SUCH AS CRAYFISH SUFFERING WITH LOWER WATER LEVEL
By Raviya H. Ismail
HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER
Most don't realize it, but the lowered water level of Lake Cumberland has affected an immense ecosystem below ground.
Those most familiar with this effect are cavers and environmentalists who spend their weekends crawling, climbing and sliding through the Sloans Valley Cave System in Pulaski County.
Several organisms, including bats, salamanders and fish and crayfish, live in the 26-mile-long cave system, which stays a constant 56 degrees throughout the year. These environmentalists are worried about the future of all the organisms living in the cave because the water levels will continually decrease for the next seven years, the length of the project to repair Wolf Creek Dam.
"Now that the Cumberlands is draining, it affects the whole ecosystem of the entire river," said Mary Zriny, an environmentalist who navigated through a part of the cave system yesterday. "So many things are dying."
Full Article