Myths
A collection of myths often heard about Deep Creek Lake.
These days we see many presentations by various people about what they are doing or planning to do with regard to various issues affecting Deep Creek Lake. Typically a presentation starts out with stating some kind of goal or objective. Here are several that we find to be rather strange (on purpose? innocently?).
- Myth - "To preserve/protect/manage the lake as a natural resource" The underlined word is what makes this a myth. The lake is NOT natural. It is MANMADE! There is a dam that holds the water. If it weren't for the manmade dam there would not be a lake. Old maps show that there would have been a swamp. All kinds of procedures are in place as to when to release the water and how much. The water is natural. It comes from rainfall, runoff, streams, and groundwater. What should be said is something like: "To manage the lake as if it were a natural resource."
- Myth - "Preserve the ecological balance" Here, the two underlined words make this sentence a myth. Deep Creek Lake is changing all the time, from the day it was created. Furthermore, we know very little of what it was at earlier times, except for a body of water. There is no data to quantify a state. So there is nothing to "preserve." Preserve means we know something before(or perhaps one could say 'as of today'). The same is implied by the word "balance." That means there is something pushing on one side and something else on the other to counter it. Again the lake is constantly changing. There is always more of one than the other, and it may go back and for, or really move significantly in one direction. What should be said is something like: "To create an ecology that all the stakeholders can benefit from."