Grate News
Sent this to a few interested folks:
Stormwater called me today and said they are sending somebody out to survey the lakes overflow discharge and they will design, fabricate and install the grate. He said we should see it in 3-4 weeks. He reminded me that we will need to keep an eye on it during heavy rains to be sure it doesn’t plug up. We could flood. He again expressed interest in our carp experiment.
I think installing the grate is the only barrier I am aware of prior to introducing the carp, assuming that we don’t want to apply herbicide to kill off some of the lilies.
I don’t think the lilies will hurt the fish; it will just take longer to get a visible effect.
I guess the trick is to get enough fish to control some of the hydrilla and some of the lilies, but not remove all the vegetation. Too many fish and they eat everything and start to die, not enough and they make no progress on weed control. We probably won’t ever spend enough money to buy too many fish.
Hopefully, we are close enough to the rainy season the lake stays wet. Hate for the fish and the gator to share the same last few cubic feet of water. I think the gator would wind up with a fat belly.
I will contact Swiftmud and talk to them about treating the hydrilla. They may send me elsewhere; it’s a state program I think. Treating hydrilla, I believe, has the side effect of treating some of the lilies.
We will probably need a couple hundred bucks to buy the carp; I’ll get a quote.
So, while the herbicide applied to about 60% of the current vegetation is suggested, it’s not mandatory. If we want or need to do that, we need to get on the ball and get a permit from EPC (I think). Also we need about 1-2 grand for the chemicals and some type of spray rig to apply unless the state handles the hydrilla for us.
The Lowry Park ladies harvested a second batch this week of hydrilla. Even if we do treat it, don’t worry – it will come back and we will be able to make more for the manatees!
Stormwater called me today and said they are sending somebody out to survey the lakes overflow discharge and they will design, fabricate and install the grate. He said we should see it in 3-4 weeks. He reminded me that we will need to keep an eye on it during heavy rains to be sure it doesn’t plug up. We could flood. He again expressed interest in our carp experiment.
I think installing the grate is the only barrier I am aware of prior to introducing the carp, assuming that we don’t want to apply herbicide to kill off some of the lilies.
I don’t think the lilies will hurt the fish; it will just take longer to get a visible effect.
I guess the trick is to get enough fish to control some of the hydrilla and some of the lilies, but not remove all the vegetation. Too many fish and they eat everything and start to die, not enough and they make no progress on weed control. We probably won’t ever spend enough money to buy too many fish.
Hopefully, we are close enough to the rainy season the lake stays wet. Hate for the fish and the gator to share the same last few cubic feet of water. I think the gator would wind up with a fat belly.
I will contact Swiftmud and talk to them about treating the hydrilla. They may send me elsewhere; it’s a state program I think. Treating hydrilla, I believe, has the side effect of treating some of the lilies.
We will probably need a couple hundred bucks to buy the carp; I’ll get a quote.
So, while the herbicide applied to about 60% of the current vegetation is suggested, it’s not mandatory. If we want or need to do that, we need to get on the ball and get a permit from EPC (I think). Also we need about 1-2 grand for the chemicals and some type of spray rig to apply unless the state handles the hydrilla for us.
The Lowry Park ladies harvested a second batch this week of hydrilla. Even if we do treat it, don’t worry – it will come back and we will be able to make more for the manatees!
posted by George at 2:08 PM
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