I carried out an inspection of Division 5 this morning and it was apparent that the algae in a number of water catchments is increasing which includes Money’s Creek. The upper lagoon’s floodgates are due to be opened during this week and hopefully the upcoming 3.0m tides will flush some of it out.
Bargara Lake is a mess with heavy inundation of algae/weeds and Council officers have been asked to address the siutuation a.s.a.p. following complaints received. I’m advised that the recent heavy rain periods have resulted in additional nutrients being washed into the catchments which have caused in the increased growth.
The problem of weed and aglae inundation in water catchments has been an ongoing problem for as long as I can remember and I’m disappointed that remedial action isn’t implemnented as soon as the growth is detected. The longer it’s left, the more it costs to get rid of and when it’s eventually poisoned, it sinks to the bottom of the catchment thus reducing the depth of the water and leading to overheating, oxygen depletion and fish kills.
Having said that, I’m aware that Council resources are stretched to the limit but I’m convinced that a scheduled clean out with a machine similar to a Truxor would be a good investment and go a long way to resolving the issue. These versatile machines can be fitted with a variety of attachments and are easily transportable around the region. Click on the above link to see what I mean.
I’ve raised the issue during budget deliberations and suggested that Council consider either purchasing such a machine or at least leasing one on a regular basis so solve these issues before they become an expensive liability. The alternative is to continue with ineffective ‘band-aid’ measures which I’m sure are more costly in the long run.