Boomer Lake
Encyclopedia
Boomer Lake is located in the city of Stillwater, Oklahoma
and was completed in 1925. The lake, as an artificial reservoir, serves several purposes such as cooling the local power plant and providing entertainment and recreation. Boomer Lake has a surface area of 251 acres, watershed area of 8954 acres, shoreline length of 8.6 miles, shoreline development of 4.17, and a mean depth of 9.7 feet.
In 2011 Boomer Lake underwent severe drying due to lack of water, the water has dropped by as much as 15 ft, the shoreline has receded some 40 ft in areas.
The lake serves as a great source for fishing
and contains many varieties of fish such as largemouth bass
, hybrid bass, saugeye, channel catfish
, flathead catfish
, crappie
and many species of sunfish
.
that can be found in large fish, mainly the Largemouth Bass. No more than two servings of 16- to 19-inch Largemouth Bass should be consumed in a month, and people should avoid eating fish over 19 inches in length altogether. The advisory said women of child-bearing age, pregnant women, nursing mothers and children up to age 15 are especially susceptible to mercury.
Mercury enters the atmosphere, and eventually the water, through man-made sources such as coal-fired power plants and also through natural resources such as volcano
es. What makes mercury in the water harmful to humans is through a process called bioaccumulation
. Bioaccumulation occurs as fish consume the smaller aquatic life that contain mercury. As the process continues mercury becomes more and more concentrated in the fish that are higher in the food chain, namely the Largemouth Bass.
Health concerns linked to mercury consumption include, but are not limited to, cardiovascular problems such as high blood pressure or heart rate
, nervous system
damage of the brain, and developmental issues in young children such as blindness
or deafness, mental retardation
, or speech/language difficulties.
Stillwater, Oklahoma
Stillwater is a city in north-central Oklahoma at the intersection of U.S. 177 and State Highway 51. It is the county seat of Payne County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 45,688. Stillwater is the principal city of the Stillwater Micropolitan Statistical...
and was completed in 1925. The lake, as an artificial reservoir, serves several purposes such as cooling the local power plant and providing entertainment and recreation. Boomer Lake has a surface area of 251 acres, watershed area of 8954 acres, shoreline length of 8.6 miles, shoreline development of 4.17, and a mean depth of 9.7 feet.
In 2011 Boomer Lake underwent severe drying due to lack of water, the water has dropped by as much as 15 ft, the shoreline has receded some 40 ft in areas.
The lake serves as a great source for fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
and contains many varieties of fish such as largemouth bass
Largemouth bass
The largemouth bass is a species of black bass in the sunfish family native to North America . It is also known as widemouth bass, bigmouth, black bass, bucketmouth, Potter's fish, Florida bass, Florida largemouth, green bass, green trout, linesides, Oswego bass, southern largemouth...
, hybrid bass, saugeye, channel catfish
Channel catfish
Channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, is North America's most numerous catfish species. It is the official fish of Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Tennessee, and is informally referred to as a "channel cat". In the United States they are the most fished catfish species with approximately 8...
, flathead catfish
Flathead catfish
The flathead catfish , also called the yellow cat, opelousas, and shovelhead cat, are large North American freshwater catfish. This is the only species of the genus Pylodictis...
, crappie
Crappie
Crappie is a genus of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of order Perciformes. The type species is P. annularis, the white crappie...
and many species of sunfish
Sunfish
-Saltwater fishes:*Molidae, family of Ocean Sunfishes*Opah, family Lampridae; two species-Freshwater fishes:* Pygmy sunfish, six members of the genus Elassoma* Centrarchidae, a perciform family of about 27 species...
.
Fish Advisory
Boomer Lake has an advisory that went in to effect in 2010 for certain fish taken for human consumption. This advisory is for concentrated levels of mercuryMercury (element)
Mercury is a chemical element with the symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is also known as quicksilver or hydrargyrum...
that can be found in large fish, mainly the Largemouth Bass. No more than two servings of 16- to 19-inch Largemouth Bass should be consumed in a month, and people should avoid eating fish over 19 inches in length altogether. The advisory said women of child-bearing age, pregnant women, nursing mothers and children up to age 15 are especially susceptible to mercury.
Mercury enters the atmosphere, and eventually the water, through man-made sources such as coal-fired power plants and also through natural resources such as volcano
Volcano
2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...
es. What makes mercury in the water harmful to humans is through a process called bioaccumulation
Bioaccumulation
Bioaccumulation refers to the accumulation of substances, such as pesticides, or other organic chemicals in an organism. Bioaccumulation occurs when an organism absorbs a toxic substance at a rate greater than that at which the substance is lost...
. Bioaccumulation occurs as fish consume the smaller aquatic life that contain mercury. As the process continues mercury becomes more and more concentrated in the fish that are higher in the food chain, namely the Largemouth Bass.
Health concerns linked to mercury consumption include, but are not limited to, cardiovascular problems such as high blood pressure or heart rate
Heart rate
Heart rate is the number of heartbeats per unit of time, typically expressed as beats per minute . Heart rate can vary as the body's need to absorb oxygen and excrete carbon dioxide changes, such as during exercise or sleep....
, nervous system
Nervous system
The nervous system is an organ system containing a network of specialized cells called neurons that coordinate the actions of an animal and transmit signals between different parts of its body. In most animals the nervous system consists of two parts, central and peripheral. The central nervous...
damage of the brain, and developmental issues in young children such as blindness
Blindness
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...
or deafness, mental retardation
Mental retardation
Mental retardation is a generalized disorder appearing before adulthood, characterized by significantly impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in two or more adaptive behaviors...
, or speech/language difficulties.