Question Box: Uh...Why is Mason Pond Brown?
|
Over the weekend, Connect2Mason received an inquiry about the condition of Mason Pond. (Kevin Loker)
-------------------
UPDATED 2:00 p.m.
George Mason University is big. It’s really big. And there’s a lot going on. We do our best to cover what’s news and what we feel the Mason community should know, but sometimes we get e-mails with questions from you, the reader, about things we haven’t covered, on items that you think we should. Sometimes, these inquiries lead to great stories. But sometimes, the news value just isn’t there. Other times, they just make us laugh.
Enter the Question Box. It’s our solution to finding a home for some of the random tidbits of information we acquire while researching story leads — the bits that don’t warrant a full story, but are either interesting or humorous, and nonetheless worth knowing.
------------------------
Today’s Question Box Question came to us through our contact form: “Hey Connect2Mason, do you know why Mason Pond is all brown and whatnot? Did something go wrong with construction?”
We looked into it. Apparently, brown’s a good color for the pond right now. According to Nancy Pickens, a project manager for facilities planning, that somewhat unsightly tinge means the pond is working.
“Mason Pond is not in bad shape whatsoever — it is only at about 65 percent capacity,” said Pickens in an e-mail correspondence. “When you see it looking particularly muddy, it is ‘doing its job,’ [which is] collecting runoff from the university.”
“The soil in this area is full of clays, which tend to stay suspended in water for a longer period of time than other types of soils, but that is why many of the rivers in Virginia are muddy-looking — because of all the suspended sediment,” Pickens told us. “Rivers in upstate New York, where I am originally from, appear much clearer, not because they are cleaner, but because the sediment settles out much quicker.”
So all ye Patriots going for a run around Patriot’s Circle, never fear. Mason Pond’s in good shape — it’s not supposed to be clear.
-----------
Got a question for the Question Box? You can e-mail the C2M Executive Editor atexec.editor@connect2mason.com, and we’ll look into it for you. Maybe it’ll lead to a nice, full story you’ll want to retweet to all your friends. If it does, we’ll give you a shout-out at the bottom of the piece. Ask away.
Student Media Group:
Tags: