I remember the long hazy hot summer days of my youth in St. Catharines. We would often bicycle to the lake, sweating past miles of orchards with trees hanging heavy with cherries, peaches, and plums. And it was worth the effort, for the beach was golden and the water sparkling clean, and we swam and dived for hours from an old concrete pier that is now only a distant memory. Or we would just lie on the beach, soaking up the sun and listening to the rhythm of the lake. There was something so soothing about the lapping of the waves against the sandy shoreline, the regular swish of the water coming in and the woosh of it flowing out, like a slow primeval heartbeat.
Kids don t spend time at the lake anymore.
And it s not because the bicycle ride is now almost completely urbanized, a long stretch of simmering, car-clogged pavement, lined with rows of uninspiring suburban homes. And beach closures are but a small part of a very serious and complex problem. Niagara is surrounded by water. We are blessed by two of the Great Lakes, the mighty Niagara River, a string of smaller rivers and streams, and plentiful groundwater. It seems inconceivable that we could ever run short.