The 3 Most Important Questions No Consultant or Treatment Company Wants You to Ask
The future of your lake depends on the answer to three simple questions:
- How healthy is my lake right now?
- Is it healthier today than it was a year ago, two years ago, etc.?
- How is your current Lake Management Program imacting Lake Health?
If you are spending money to “manage” or treat your lake, you should know what impact your dollars are having on lake health. If your lake isn’t getting healthier as a result of your management or treatment program, then what are you really getting for your money?
Ask your Lake Management Consultant or Treatment Company if your lake is actually getting healthier. Force them to show you the data that proves it. If they show you a map of how weed growth has been reduced due to herbicide treatment, tell them to try again.
Weed growth is not a reliable indicator of lake health on a lake that is treated with herbicides. Your consultant or treatment company should and probably DOES know better. They are most likely just trying to avoid the question. They know that the typical Lake Management Program DOES NOTHING to improve lake health over time.
In fact, it has been well established scientifically that long-term herbicide treatment ACCELERATES lake decline. Chemically treated dead weeds release their nutrients back into the water leading to increased algae growth and diminished water quality. Sustained use of herbicides also accelerates the accumulation of nutrient-laden muck at the bottom which reduces lake depth and feeds the next cycle of weed growth. This same dynamic occurs in lakes that are chemically treated for algae.
More Weeds, More Algae, Declining Water Quality and Higher Costs
The result of most Lake Management Programs is MORE WEEDS and MORE ALGAE over time and higher treatment costs. This is great for the Treatment/Management Company, but no so great for the people paying the bills and horrible for the lake.
Lake health can be measured. Here are a few indicators:
• Dissolved Oxygen from surface to bottom – higher is better
• Nutrient levels (phosphorus and nitrogen) – lower is better
• Water clarity – higher is better
• Health and composition of the algal community
• Depth of organic muck on the bottom – less is better
At Lake Savers we encourage our customers to continually ask the question whether our Four Step Lake Renewal Process is making their lake healthier. In fact, we insist that they ask the question and we gather and report the data to provide them with a concrete answer.
Our approach is SINGULARLY FOCUSED on making your lake healthier using natural strategies that accelerate the lake’s built-in cleaning process. In a healthy lake, weeds, algae and muck naturally disappear. Our customers’ lakes are getting healthier year after year. We have the independent scientific data to prove it.
So insist that your current Management/Treatment Provider show you proof that their program is making your lake healthier. Your lake depends on it!