By Lake Iola Lake District

The much anticipated DNR pond review with Ted and his boss Andrew happened this past Friday. Not many photos, as I spent most of the four hours talking with them. Andrew had never toured the pond before, so at least now he has a better understanding of our conditions. I do appreciate the time they spent with me, but I doubt much change will come from it.

A lot for me to process from the meeting, but I anticipate very little change to the current weed harvesting map. We reviewed the seven pathways taken away from us in our old map and considered two new ones in the large lily pad bogs in the middle and lower part of the lake. While we do have sufficient depth in many areas to do more weed harvesting, it appears that the DNR are more concerned with protecting all the lily pads and other plants in the pond.

We also reviewed the five allowable channels for consideration of chemical spraying, and it appears harvesting in the channels is sufficient enough. Ted wants one or the other, not both, so no spraying in the channels this year. Ted is willing to consider homeowner pier treatments with chemicals, up to 30×30 feet, so I will contact our chemical spray vendor for pricing. I also asked Ted to look into homeowners treating their areas themselves, which may be possible with pellets, not liquid herbicides.