Today (Thursday, July 23) I sent this to a bunch of folks who maybe should have known about the lake draining before this happened--but apparently didn't:

From: Greg Falxa
Sent: Thu 23-Jul-09 16:16
To: svaland@ga.wa.gov; fraser.karen@leg.wa.gov; jhyer@ci.olympia.wa.us...
Subject: Capitol Lake draw-down's impact to regional bats

Did anyone involved in this decision ask the question "what impact will this have on the region's bats?" I am asking this as a serious question.

After reading the G.A. press release I expected possible dismay, but was shocked to see how little open water remained in Capitol Lake when I went to check out this draw down. I cannot think of a worse time for this to occur; this part of July is the most critical of the energy-demanding time for the many thousands of nursing mother bats which congregate nightly to feed at Capitol Lake. They spend the night feeding here, then head back to their colonies to feed the young. Right now, the young are nearly adult-sized yet still dependent on their mothers' milk. That means they are needing the most resources of any time they are nursing. By this week, a few young might be making their first trips to the lake as well, when they are just learning to forage for insects emerging from the surface of the open water.

Last Thursday at dusk, 3,300 bats exited the Woodard Bay nursery colony; most head directly to Capitol Lake to feed. This is only one of three large groups of bats--that we know of--that use the lake as a primary feeding area during this 'maternity time.' This is not new information; it has been presented by various people many times during the formal and informal discussions about the fate of the Capitol Lake: to CLAMP, to GA, to WDFW, reported in the media, etc.

Many of the (surviving) bats from these large breeding colonies that we have in the South Sound area will disperse across the larger landscape as soon as they become fully independent of their mothers (as will the adults). You might compare this to salmon returning to their natal waters to breed and reproduce, then heading out to the world when ready. This is as if those natal waters have been drained before the salmon smolt left for sea.

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