Weeding through the water

Contractors who specialize in aquatic weed control will be in demand for the foreseeable future due to the unrelenting march of invasive species in lakes, ponds and other bodies of water. Treating these requires a good deal of knowledge of aquatic systems ecology, the plants that inhabit them and the treatment options available.

“The problem is huge,” says Jason Broekstra, vice president of Great Lakes Operations for PLM Lake & Management Corp. “People really don’t understand that if management of invasive species did not take place in our lakes, we wouldn’t have lakes. We’d have swamps; we’d have property values that would be worth nothing.”

Broekstra says his organization takes pains to educate people on aquatic weed control so they will understand why treatment of water bodies is often necessary.

For the full story, in our July issue, click here.