Just wanted to take a moment to let you all know that the CDD Board and our pond maintenance vendor are doing all we can to help our ponds make it through this unusually hot and dry season.
We know many of the ponds are struggling and this was the subject of intensive discussion with the pond maintenance vendor at the CDD Board meeting yesterday.
As I'm sure you can understand, we are limited by lack of rainfall, high temperatures, regulations as to how often chemicals can be added and caution as to not harm the wildlife that live in and around the ponds.
Algae growth is stimulated by two things: water temperatures and pond depth. Algae is very active in warm shallow water. Our storm water retention ponds are much more shallow than lakes and larger reservoirs. This allows the sun to hit the bottom of the ponds to start the growth. We will continue to aggressively restrict these blooms by way of blue dyes to restrict sunlight penetration, proper applications of copper sulfate and rapid response to blooms.
Keep in mind that the using blue dye as a preventative approach is only effective if it remains in the ponds and doesn't evaporate in high temperatures or diluted by rainfall. .
In addition, there are some things that each resident can be doing so that they are not promoting these blooms and submerged plant growth. Make sure when mowing that the grass clippings do not go into the pond or storm drains. This is a major contributor. We have asked our landscaping contractor to be especially vigilant about this when mowing around ponds.
When fertilizing grass, give a 15-20 foot buffer around pond edges so that the grass can filter the fertilizer before it reaches the pond (and fertilizes the algae!) Do not use the ponds (or storm drains) for any waste (e.g., pet droppings, leaves, grass clippings) as this organic matter also dramatically increases algae growth.
We ask for your patience as we work within regulations and hope for rain. We know many of them are struggling, and are doing all we can.
Thank you!
