Florida water authorities can halt the use of aquatic pesticides which are proven to be harmful to wildlife by using mechanical removal of weeds, but because they want to save money, they don’t.
See the original article here at votewater.
Comments by OSFR historian Jim Tatum.
jim.tatum@oursantaferiver.org
– A river is like a life: once taken,
it cannot be brought back © Jim Tatum
Breaking Florida’s chemical addiction
In his October column for Florida Sportsman Magazine, Senior Editor (and VoteWater Board President) Blair Wickstrom notes that unchecked nutrients in our waterways are fueling an explosion of unwanted aquatic plant life — and “instead of mandatory, enforceable laws limiting nutrients from entering the water, Florida spends millions of taxpayer dollars dealing with the aftermath by spraying toxic chemicals trying to control aquatic vegetation.”
That’s a growing concern — but as Wickstrom notes, there is another way: mechanical harvesting. Wickstrom took a look at WeeDoo Boats, which makes aquatic weed harvesters that cull the plants without the chemicals, and could even save money for cities and counties addicted to spraying.
“The FWC Spray Tanker is hard to turn,” Wickstrom writes, and “even harder to stop.” But doing so could make a big difference for our fragile waterways. Check out Wickstrom’s column in the October issue of Florida Sportsman, or on our Facebook page at this link.
