Despite this, I have observed that the presence of the initial “bright green balls” of algae has not yet risen to the levels that I have seen in years past. In years past, by mid to late February you could see large balls of bright green algae forming about 1 foot below the surface of the water. These would ultimately grow, and then begin to decay when the lake warms in the summer to form the ugly brown masses on the surface.
Last year, Killearn Lakes Homeowner’s Association (with participation from Golden Eagle Homeowner’s Association), battled the algae very hard and succeeded in beating it back throughout the summer months.
As a result, the bottom of the lake appears to be much more clear of the brown “muck” and perhaps the formation of algae has been delayed.
I say delayed, because it is inevitable that we will see surface algae again. Lake Blue Heron is shallow and receives excess nutrients and that will form algae.
The good news is that Killearn Lakes Homeowner’s Association remains committed to managing the quality of our lake views in all the lakes of KLHOA, while balancing the environmental impacts of doing treatments.
Charlie Mesing remains our reliable and extremely knowledgeable “Lake Doctor.”
As Lake Blue Heron has seen significant improvement, I have offered to the KLHOA that this group, as a work-group of the KLHOA subcommittee, will also help to communicate efforts being done on all the lakes of KLHOA.
For example, it was reported by one homeowner on Lake Petty Gulf that large bright green balls of “slime” are forming in that lake. By his description, it sounds like what we have experienced on Lake Blue Heron in the past. I will relay this information to Charlie so that he can plan accordingly. Last year, Petty Gulf had quite an intrusion of hydrilla. This had to be heavily treated and was successfully put “down.” Perhaps this decaying mass is adding to the nutrient and algae food now in that lake. Charlie can best assess this and plan the appropriate treatments.
If you see ANYTHING that concerns you on one of the KLHOA lakes (Arrowhead, Petty Gulf, Blue Heron, Monkey Business, or Pine Hill) please email me at schmidtfjs@gmail.com and I’ll coordinate communications with the office and Charlie.
If you wish to be removed from this group, you should be able to use the Unsubscribe feature of the web-site. If you have difficulty with that, please just email me at schmidtfjs@gmail.com and I’ll get your email address removed.
Thanks so much for being a part of this group — it has made a SIGNIFICANT difference for Lake Blue Heron and I really appreciate the support.
Fred Schmidt
Fred. Thanks for informative report and for looking out for our lakes, shorelines, wildlife, and Members.
Jeff