Lakes with no weeds due to chemicals

[minnow1]

Just wondering.....

The city of Pittsfield killed the weeds this summer with chemicals in Pontoosuc and Onota.  The usual weed beds are gone and theres nothing but muck when you look down the hole.  And the fishing is really slow. How do you think this affects the fish?  Obviously they're not in the same places and are probably just spread all over but can those chemicals kill the fish? Or have some impact on the overall habitats?

[JCaughtem]

It can devestate the spawning of almost every species and if they do spawn the young fry have no  :-[were to hide and would most certainly be eaten.

[Roncarr]

they did this in quaddick in ct and it killed fish that sucks stupid humans wanting to swim

[minnow1]

they did this in quaddick in ct and it killed fish that sucks stupid humans wanting to swim

Its mostly the rich people that have houses on  the lakes and they complain about a few weeds.

[GrizlyGarou]

Its mostly the rich people that have houses on  the lakes and they complain about a few weeds.

I'd bet if they just stopped fertilizing their lawns, there'd be a lot less weeds and there would still be fish.  I hate seeing a perfectly manicured lawn next to a pond, it just doesn't seem right.  It might have something to do with the 7 years I spent mowing lawns and learning to hate them, though...

[fishermantim]

They had a similar issue with Spy Pond in Arlington some years back.
Their claim was that the lawn fertilizer run off had killed the water plants on the eastern half of the lake, an were pettioning to stop people from using it at all.
What these self-acknowledged geniuses failed to recognize was that the eatern half of the pond was inhabited by an ever-growing population of canadian geese that were poluting the water and killing the plantlife. You'd think that they would have gotten a hint/clue when they had to resod the picnic area EVERY YEAR due to goose droppings killing the grass!

Note that the western half of the pond is a lush, plant-filled fisherman's haven with decent sized fish of various species.
This was because there are a resident pair of swans that continually chase the geese out of their territory which happens to be the whole western half.

SO.....I highly disagree that weed growth was caused by lawn runoff. It may have a contributing effect, but it is not the sole culprit. These other "geniuses" in western mass will soon be complaining more about the increased mosquito population, due to the lack of fish in these waterways, and will be blaming THAT on something/soneone else.

Good luck!

[SPARKYICE]

they killed waneta lake here in n.y.
the pitch they made was the chemicals would get rid of eurasian milfoil, an invasive, and the native water plants would re-colonise. things didn't happen quite like they thought they would.

no where for the little fish to hide, bigger fish ate em all, then the bigger fish starved.

weeds arent good for jet ski water intakes.

[bisceglia]

don't worry the weeds will grow back. the fishing may slow for a awhile but everything will eventualy be back to normal...but don't eat the fish if they glow in the dark

[fishermantim]

Maybe if they concentrated more on controlling the weeds than on killing them, they may have better luck.
Unless you are dealing with an invasive species, you could literally just rake the weeds (like dredging without destroying the root structure and basic ecosystem) and reduce the amount of weeds overall. Otherwise you are putting the ponds/lakes life in the hands of someone that may not be qualified or experienced with the required actions.

[lenz]

weeds are also spread by boaters, moving from lake to lake and taking weeds along with them

burp

lenz

[clemente08]

Just wondering.....

The city of Pittsfield killed the weeds this summer with chemicals in Pontoosuc and Onota.  The usual weed beds are gone and theres nothing but muck when you look down the hole.  And the fishing is really slow. How do you think this affects the fish?  Obviously they're not in the same places and are probably just spread all over but can those chemicals kill the fish? Or have some impact on the overall habitats?

at least the water there freezes unlike that pond next to GE