To the editor:
Most in our community will agree that the pesticide applications to Cazenovia Lake are ineffective and extremely expensive. Why then is the Cazenovia Lake Association going to spend another quarter million dollars this year exposing our children, pets, wildlife, food sources and drinking water to toxic chemicals that are proven to harm?
I know the public was sold many half truths about the Chemical Application of Renovate with its active ingredient Triclopyr that breaks down to trichloropyridinol and trichloromethoxypyridine. We can all see the visual results, weeds, lots of them; most likely, always have been and always will be present in Cazenovia Lake. Native, non native doesn’t really matter to the average person they are there to stay for now, residents need to learn how to manage them without making matters worse such as by poisoning our lake, residents and groundwater.
There are other methods of controlling weed growth that may last for decades and be far less harmful and expensive in the long run. Dredging the soft material off the bottom of the lake in areas, essentially removing the habitat that aquatic weeds needs to thrive. Weed preventative mats, now being used and work great in local areas. The weed harvester does an excellent job of controlling weeds near the surface and one doesn’t need to worry about spreading weeds to new areas as the lake is already saturated.
You can spend millions of dollars on chemicals and when you are done you will have the same thing as when you started a lake full of weeds. Removing the soft matter that weeds grow in by dredging could give you a life time of few weeds. Weed preventative mats either temporary or permanent work and are economical in comparison. Ban all lawn care on the lake, it’s not needed and is contributing to the problem. You never need to fertilize healthy grass if you mulch the clippings! If someone tells you other it’s a sales job.
Now that the native people and others won the battle of protecting their water at “Standing Rock” in the Dakotas, I hope that they come here to our town save our lake and ground water before it’s too late. The poison algae bloom last year was the lake speaking to us, we need to listen!
John Rybinski
Manlius
