Herbicides endanger all life, not just plants

The latest issue of the Lake Worth Drainage District “Reflections” (aka the LWDD newsletter) had a discussion on “Controlling Aquatic Plants.” What I have to say here concerns not only the LWDD but all drainage and water control districts.

Herbicides, which are ecotoxins, should be used as little as possible, as they do get into groundwater/ aquifers. Most of today’s herbicides have been designed to degrade faster than the previously used chlorinated hydrocarbons but they are still foreign to all life forms — you and me included.

The LWDD should be congratulated for stating the following:

“The District is increasing its efforts to mechanically remove aquatic vegetation and reduce the need to utilize herbicides in our maintenance practices.”

Physical removal of surface aquatic vegetation is an excellent environmental/ecological choice on two fronts.

First, as given above, it avoids the use of the ecotoxic herbicides. Second, the vegetation that is removed carries with it a lot of the plant nutrients, notably nitrogen and phosphorus, that made these plants bloom in the first place. Thus, the nutrients (aka fertilizers) are removed as well.

When the plants are killed with herbicides, they drop to the bottom of the water, decay and release the nutrients back into the water to start the process anew. Additionally, the bacteria that are decomposing this plant material use a lot of oxygen and can generate anoxic conditions and even fish kills. Removed plant material can be used as a soil amendment adding organic matter and nutrients to the soil in farming, nurseries and gardening areas.

Therefore, think about the whole environment and, in this case, remove and use the masses of surface aquatic vegetation.

WILLIAM LOUDA, BOCA RATON Editor’s note: William Louda is a research professor at the Environmental Biogeochemistry Group, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the Environmental Sciences Program at Florida Atlantic University.