Aeration Information - Educating Lake Association - 09/13/09 02:04 PM
We have recently installed aerators in our inlet to the 450 acre lake we own property on. The Lake Association has not been interested in our views on the importance of aeration, rather they have been focused on herbicides (Reward) to kill the lilypads and the Eurasian Milfoil found about 5 years ago.
We understand the importance of controlling the milfoil, but we feel the bigger picture of the lake isn't clearly defined. We reviewed their monitoring data from past years and found they have plenty of data on BOD, COD, Phosphorous, Sechhi Disks, etc. However, the very obvious muck at the bottom has not been measured or studied. To their credit, they have tried to address the invasive weeds and the nutrient sources, and they spent considerable time on graphs, etc.
When we conveyed how important we felt aeration was, they went ahead and obtained one estimate which was presented to the board as an outragous expense and an unobtainable option suggested by us.
We firmly believe in the benefits of aeration and certainly don't view it as a cure-all, but rather as a part of the bigger picture of adequate lake management. Our aerators have been in place for approximately 6 weeks and we are noticing clear spots in our channel area. This is significant to us and certainly provides proof the aeration is working.
What we would like to do is provide to the association some type of data or study material, i.e. from a University of otherwise credible source on aeration and herbicide use and how they relate to the muck in a large lake and how they relate to nuisance weed growth. If someone can point us in the right direction, we'd surely appreciate the nudge...
We understand the importance of controlling the milfoil, but we feel the bigger picture of the lake isn't clearly defined. We reviewed their monitoring data from past years and found they have plenty of data on BOD, COD, Phosphorous, Sechhi Disks, etc. However, the very obvious muck at the bottom has not been measured or studied. To their credit, they have tried to address the invasive weeds and the nutrient sources, and they spent considerable time on graphs, etc.
When we conveyed how important we felt aeration was, they went ahead and obtained one estimate which was presented to the board as an outragous expense and an unobtainable option suggested by us.
We firmly believe in the benefits of aeration and certainly don't view it as a cure-all, but rather as a part of the bigger picture of adequate lake management. Our aerators have been in place for approximately 6 weeks and we are noticing clear spots in our channel area. This is significant to us and certainly provides proof the aeration is working.
What we would like to do is provide to the association some type of data or study material, i.e. from a University of otherwise credible source on aeration and herbicide use and how they relate to the muck in a large lake and how they relate to nuisance weed growth. If someone can point us in the right direction, we'd surely appreciate the nudge...