How Consistent Lake Management Helps Create Happier, Healthier Communities
Lakes, rivers, beaches, and even swimming pools have beneficial effects on the well-being of visitors that are hard to define. Water is not only essential for our survival, it has a profoundly relaxing and refreshing impact on people’s mental health and happiness. Human beings will always be inextricably connected to water physically, mentally, and spiritually. This helps explain why communities near large water systems are common vacation destinations and highly desirable places for residential communities. It also underscores the importance of preserving our precious aquatic resources.
The Effects of Poor Water Quality
Maintaining balanced aquatic ecosystems is more important than ever as water scarcity, eutrophication, drought, and increasing demand continue to cause depletion and degradation of water quality worldwide. Water pollution can lead to Harmful Algal Blooms, toxicity, nuisance and invasive aquatic weed growth, bad odors, and taste issues in drinking water reservoirs – among many other issues. These types of water quality challenges can lead to diminished property values and will undoubtedly have a negative effect on swimming, boating, fishing, wildlife watching, and overall enjoyment of nature.
Understanding the Cause of Water Quality Issues
In many areas, it’s common for water quality problems to shut down lakes and beaches throughout the summer, but few people are cognizant of why these problems occur and how significantly they can threaten our innate connection with the water. Assessing and addressing issues with water quality requires the experience and knowledge of experts who focus on optimizing all the benefits that balanced water can provide.
Preserving and enhancing water quality calls for successful proactive management with long-term results in mind. Lake and pond management is a science and taking all variables into account is the only way to address water quality issues at their root causes. Aquatic biologists pay close attention to detail and consider the entire aquatic ecosystem when collecting sound physical, chemical, and biological data.
Set A Management Baseline with Water Quality Assessments
Water quality assessments are a common starting point to uncover this important information and identify potential nutrient imbalances, pollutants, watershed inputs, algal populations, or other problems. With every visit to your waterbody, aquatic biologists can learn more from each new water sample. This data creates a basis for management recommendations and informs the use of eco-friendly tools and advanced technologies.
Determining the Best Solutions for Your Waterbody
Depending on the challenges your waterbody faces, it may require a combination of solutions. Fountains and submersed aerators are excellent at increasing healthy dissolved oxygen levels in the water while circulating different areas of the water column. Likewise, new aeration solutions like side stream supersaturation are changing the game by making it possible to directly inject oxygen into the water to correct deficiencies, eliminate bottom muck, and potentially end reliance on herbicides.
Utilizing New Technologies
In the event that herbicides are required to achieve lasting aquatic weed control, advanced drone technology is now available to efficiently and precisely target affected areas. Drones also aid in surveillance, making it easier than ever to identify problems such as eroded shorelines, which can be rebuilt with innovative mesh technologies that integrate seamlessly into the landscape for lasting stabilization. These efforts are often paired with sediment removal strategies like hydro-raking and the application of nutrient management products that prevent future algae and aquatic weed growth. These steps can be further supported with the introduction of deep-rooted native vegetation, which form beneficial shoreline buffers that prevent undesirable nutrients and pollutants from entering the water.
Reach Your Goals with an Annual Management Program
These solutions provide immediate benefits, but they are not permanent. Lakes and ponds require year-round care for long-term success. An annual management program comprehensively supports aquatic ecosystems with many of these solutions and others that nurture waterbody health and functionality. When an annual plan is uniquely tailored to the individual characteristics of your waterbody, you can maximize the many physical, mental, and spiritual benefits of time spent in and around the water.
Build Happier, Healthier Communities with SOLitude
SOLitude Lake Management is a nationwide environmental firm committed to providing sustainable solutions that improve water quality, enhance beauty and preserve natural resources.
SOLitude’s team of aquatic scientists specializes in the development and execution of customized lake, stormwater pond, wetland and fisheries management programs. Services include water quality testing and restoration, algae and aquatic weed control, installation and maintenance of fountains and aeration systems, shoreline erosion control, muck and sediment removal and invasive species management. SOLitude partners with homeowners associations, golf courses, private landowners, businesses and municipalities. SOLitude Lake Management is part of Rentokil, a leading business services company, operating across the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.
For more information, visit SOLitude Lake Management at solitudelakemanagement.com, and connect on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
