Buying a house near Geist Reservoir? “The water is awful.” Ask when it was last true.

Everyone has an opinion about a neighborhood. Fewer people know when it was last true. How often have you heard “the water at Geist Reservoir is awful”?

1. The 2007 story. Geist has a history of blue-green algae blooms, like in 2007. Water quality matters. But here’s what gets left out.

2. The second reservoir. In late 2020, Citizens Energy turned an old stone quarry on Olio Road, right next to Geist, into Citizens Reservoir. When Geist is full, water fills that second reservoir like a battery instead of going over the dam. During dry spells, they can pump it back to keep Geist fresher and not stagnant.

This is HUGE.

3. The mud flat question. It also answers the question my buyers ask most: “What if I buy in a wet year, will I stare at a bare mud flat in a dry season?”

4. Every cove has a story. At Geist, the cove matters. A cove can hold algae that open water might not. A dock can sit in silt. Same lake, different water.

5. Ask the date. Every neighborhood has its own second reservoir: the street that flooded before the drainage project, the school ranking from ten years ago, the “up and coming” area that already came up (or stalled out). When something someone tells you about an area feels weird in your gut, ask when it was last true. Then check.

Want to talk about Geist together? nlamkin@c21scheetz.com

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