Let’s talk about the largest fresh-water lake in the world. Not Lake Superior, but rather Lake Baikal, northeast of Irkutsk in the southern part of Siberia. If you always thought Lake Superior was the largest fresh-water lake in the world, you’re right. However, both lakes require qualifying statements: Lake Superior is largest by surface area; Lake Baikal is largest by volume. The volume of water in Lake Baikal is staggering. It contains fully one-fifth of all the fresh water on the planet, greater than all five Great Lakes in North America combined. It is 400 miles long and has a depth up to 5,750 feet. That’s 1.1 miles deep. Because it is actually part of a continental rift, the lake is full of sediment, which makes it seven times deeper than the Grand Canyon. It’s big.

There are other unique qualities of Lake Baikal. It has developed an isolated ecosystem of more than 2,000 aquatic life forms. It also exhibits many characteristics that we see on Lake Superior, such as huge storms. However, the one gigantic “has” Lake Baikal can’t claim that we do have on Lake Superior is a caring population.

A recent article in Russian Life by Gary and Monika Wescott points out an important aspect of the Russian culture that is not at all kind to Lake Baikal. Much as Gary and Joanie McGuffin did in their famous North American cross-continent tour (documented in our pages Winter 1984 and Spring 1985, and their book Superior: Journeys on an Inland Sea), the Wescotts’ expedition crossed Russia. When they paused at Lake Baikal in the spring, they found a way of life that hasn’t changed much over the centuries. Fishing is still the major occupation, but the fish populations are declining. The water is more polluted. And they were amazed at the “total disregard locals, both Russians and Buryats, have for the fragile Baikal environment.” Trash is left everywhere by campers and fishermen, campfires start wild fires, rubbish is scattered in heaps near every campsite. To sum it up, the degradation of the territory in unbelievable.

Lake Baikal is an amazing place, but to realize that its population has no concept of protecting it brings home the accomplishments of our own world of Lake Superior. We are so critical of what we haven’t accomplished, yet on the other side of the world, they haven’t even begun. We should be proud that we are doing so much to preserve our own resources.

If you can, find a copy of the May issue of Russian Life and read the Wescotts’ eye-opening account. I would also suggest that you support the efforts of Lake Superior Center, which keeps the health of fresh-water lakes fully in our consciousness. It seems so difficult, and yet we’ve come so far.

Paul L. Hayden
Editor

Address e-mail to plh@lakesuperior.com