News
ENLARGE
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — A proposal to allow the use of aquatic pesticides at Lake Tahoe drew mixed reactions from the South Lake Tahoe City Coun cil Tuesday.
The Lahontan Regional Water Quality Board is considering changes to its basin plan that would make aquatic pesticides available for certain ecological preservation and public health and safety projects.
The changes are proposed for all of Lahontan's jurisdiction, which covers much of eastern California.
Although Lahontan acknowledges there are justified uses for aquatic pesticides, its existing rules limit their use to below de tectable levels and act as a “de facto prohibition,” Mary Fiore-Wagner, an environmental scientist with the water board, told the council Tuesday.
“The existing pesticide objective is not working,” Fiore-Wagner said.
The proposed changes would formalize the pesticide ban, while allowing the water board to consider exceptions under certain circumstances. Aquatic pesticides have been eyed as a way to control the spread of invasive species like Eurasian water milfoil, curly leaf pondweed and Asian clams at the lake.
City Councilman Bruce Grego said he has several concerns about the use of chemicals at Lake Tahoe, including potential effects on drinking water.
“It seems like public health would be such a concern that there would never be a circumstance where we would want to use herbicides in the lake,” Grego said.
Public health is a concern and, if the changes are approved, each project using pesticides would need to come before the water board and show why pesticides are needed and how any unintended consequences will be minimized, said Dan Sussman, an environmental scientist with the water quality agency.
“Pesticides should be considered as a tool in the toolbox,” Sussman said.
The option to use pesticides may also discourage land managers from exploring other options to control, he added.
“I just think we're opening a door here that we might not want to go through,” Grego said.
Approval of the changes to Lahontan's guiding documents do not make use of the aquatic pesticides at Lake Tahoe a “foregone conclusion,” Sussman said.
“There is no plan right now to bring forth the use of aquatic pesticides to treat aquatic weeds or treat Asian clams, specifically,” said Ted Thayer, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency's fish and wildlife program manager.
The Tahoe Keys is one place that could be considered for pesticide use.
The annual harvesting of the milfoil and pondweed is ineffective at stopping their spread, said Greg Feet, the general manager of the Tahoe Keys Property Owners Association, on Monday. The association supports Lahontan's proposal, Feet said.
Approval of the change is expected to be before the water board Dec. 6 during its regular meeting in South Lake Tahoe. A public comment on the proposal is open until noon on Nov. 14.
The proposal would require additional state approvals as well as consideration by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Final approval of the proposal is not expected before June 2012.
Mayor Hal Cole called milfoil “very pernicious” Tuesday and said he is encouraged the proposal to allow pesticide use is on the table.
Councilwoman Angela Swanson and Cole both noted the ongoing concern about the deterioration of the lake's near shore water quality. Invasive species have the ability to negatively affect both ecological and economic well-being at the lake, Cole said.
“I grew up here and I know what the lake used to be and it's not the same animal,” Cole said.
The Lahontan Regional Water Quality Board is considering changes to its basin plan that would make aquatic pesticides available for certain ecological preservation and public health and safety projects.
The changes are proposed for all of Lahontan's jurisdiction, which covers much of eastern California.
Although Lahontan acknowledges there are justified uses for aquatic pesticides, its existing rules limit their use to below de tectable levels and act as a “de facto prohibition,” Mary Fiore-Wagner, an environmental scientist with the water board, told the council Tuesday.
“The existing pesticide objective is not working,” Fiore-Wagner said.
The proposed changes would formalize the pesticide ban, while allowing the water board to consider exceptions under certain circumstances. Aquatic pesticides have been eyed as a way to control the spread of invasive species like Eurasian water milfoil, curly leaf pondweed and Asian clams at the lake.
City Councilman Bruce Grego said he has several concerns about the use of chemicals at Lake Tahoe, including potential effects on drinking water.
“It seems like public health would be such a concern that there would never be a circumstance where we would want to use herbicides in the lake,” Grego said.
Public health is a concern and, if the changes are approved, each project using pesticides would need to come before the water board and show why pesticides are needed and how any unintended consequences will be minimized, said Dan Sussman, an environmental scientist with the water quality agency.
“Pesticides should be considered as a tool in the toolbox,” Sussman said.
The option to use pesticides may also discourage land managers from exploring other options to control, he added.
“I just think we're opening a door here that we might not want to go through,” Grego said.
Approval of the changes to Lahontan's guiding documents do not make use of the aquatic pesticides at Lake Tahoe a “foregone conclusion,” Sussman said.
“There is no plan right now to bring forth the use of aquatic pesticides to treat aquatic weeds or treat Asian clams, specifically,” said Ted Thayer, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency's fish and wildlife program manager.
The Tahoe Keys is one place that could be considered for pesticide use.
The annual harvesting of the milfoil and pondweed is ineffective at stopping their spread, said Greg Feet, the general manager of the Tahoe Keys Property Owners Association, on Monday. The association supports Lahontan's proposal, Feet said.
Approval of the change is expected to be before the water board Dec. 6 during its regular meeting in South Lake Tahoe. A public comment on the proposal is open until noon on Nov. 14.
The proposal would require additional state approvals as well as consideration by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Final approval of the proposal is not expected before June 2012.
Mayor Hal Cole called milfoil “very pernicious” Tuesday and said he is encouraged the proposal to allow pesticide use is on the table.
Councilwoman Angela Swanson and Cole both noted the ongoing concern about the deterioration of the lake's near shore water quality. Invasive species have the ability to negatively affect both ecological and economic well-being at the lake, Cole said.
“I grew up here and I know what the lake used to be and it's not the same animal,” Cole said.
