LAKEPORT — The director of Water Resources for Lake County updated the Board of Supervisors on the department”s recent weed abatement efforts and introduced options for future weed and algae abatement during Tuesday”s regular meeting.
Water Resources Director Scott De Leon presented a PowerPoint to the BOS describing the work done in the lake last week by a weed harvester boat, outlining some alternative methods for short-term and long-term weed and algae abatement and introducing goals for his department over the next month.
On Oct. 6 and Oct. 7, a mechanical harvester conducted a “pilot test” in a cove in North Lakeport, according to De Leon.
The cove area was broken into thirds for the test, De Leon said. The first third was harvested and “rotovated,” a process that removes the weed roots from the lake bottom. The harvester then gathered the root balls, which had floated to the surface.
The middle third of the cove was only harvested, and the final third remained untouched as a control section, according to De Leon.
The harvested weeds were placed on land and into the soil as compost, De Leon said.
Chairman Anthony Farrington said the speed of the harvester”s removal impressed him and that his office received a lot of positive feedback from the public via e-mail and facebook posts.
There has also been interest from private businesses about utilizing the harvested weeds for such things as mulch and alternative fuel, according to Farrington. There is a “potential market for it,” he said during the meeting.
De Leon said that his department is also researching the potential use of harvesters that can remove algae as well as weeds.
The county could either hire private contractors with the dual harvesters to do the work or purchase the harvesters itself, and assign temporary county employees to do the work, according to De Leon.
The board members offered different opinions on purchasing harvesters during the discussion portion of the presentation.
District 2 Supervisor Jeff Smith said that he thinks the county should purchase harvesters rather than contract the work. “Buy it and build it so it”s equipped to do either (algae or weed harvesting),” he said.
“I think private enterprise has a lot to offer with this,” said District 5 Supervisor Rob Brown.
De Leon described weed abatement as a short-term mitigation tool and that the county”s goal is to control excess weed growth, not complete removal of all weeds.
“From an ecological perspective, I don”t think that”s a very good idea,” De Leon said about the eradication of all lake weeds.
De Leon also outlined several strategies his department will explore in the short-term, including sediment removal, introducing fish to help control the algae and documenting the extent of weed and algae growth.
De Leon said that his department recently created an e-mail address as a way to receive public input and suggestions about weed and algae abatement. The e-mail address is helpclearlake@co.lake.ca.us.
The overarching issue is increased presence of nutrients in the lake, leading to increased weeds and algae, according to De Leon.
“The only real solutions involve reductions in nutrients,” De Leon stated in his PowerPoint presentation.
The department was supposed to introduce funding ideas for the short-term mitigation tactics and long-term solutions but De Leon told the BOS that his department needed more time to review and research before it could formulate funding suggestions.
De Leon will present another update of his department”s work with weed and algae abatement during the Oct. 26 regular BOS meeting.
Contact Jeremy Walsh at jwalsh@record-bee.com or call him directly at 263-5636, ext. 37.
