Last Friday morning local residents may have seen our Town Council workers, a Councillor and a Friends of West Park member wading in the lake in an attempt to reduce the green carpet of weed which is currently covering the lower half of the lake.
They scraped the surface with large rakes and specially designed push bars and worked tirelessly for two and half hours, but only made a small dent in this green carpet of weed. It would seem that this is a very time consuming and hopeless task, this is ‘duckweed’ and it will return as quickly as it is removed. This plant has the ability to reproduce rapidly, it can double in just 16 hours to 2 days, depending on temperature and its growing environment.
Although residents complain about the look of this green carpet, for some, duckweed can be a positive inclusion in the right location.
For those of you who don’t know what duckweed is, it is a small floating plant that grows on relatively still lakes? It can cover an area rapidly and because of this can cause problems. Now however, duckweed is being touted as a miracle plant for many reasons including some listed below.
• Water filter
• Prevents algae growth
• Reduces evaporation of water
• Virtually free animal feed
• Cost effective renewable energy
In the wild, duckweed is an important source of food for fish and waterfowl. Duckweed provides a habitat for certain types of frogs and fish. It also maintains a cleaner habitat by providing enough shade to keep down the growth of oxygen-robbing algae that used to plague the lakes in past years.
However, when duckweed completely covers a lake it may be a symptom of other problems, such as, high nutrient levels from decaying leaves and plants on the bottom of the lake and the lack of constant water flow. This is why the Town Council have sourced hydrology and ecology advice from the Groundwork Trust, this will help it determine the most effective way to balance the ecology and aesthetics of this fantastic community resource and ultimately reduce the necessity to clear the lake.
So, in the meantime as long as the sun shines, temperatures remain high and the leaves decay the green carpet will be back and tackled by our intrepid council staff and the community volunteers from Friends of West Park.
If you would like to support this valuable work at West Park Lake and its surrounding area, please contact Steve Cooper steven.cooper@great-aycliffe.gov.uk at Great Aycliffe Town Council tel:300700; or check out the Friends of West Park on their Facebook page.
Cllr Eddy Adam
Great Aycliffe Town Council
& Durham County Council
Tel: 07900 701966
eddy.adam@durham.gov.uk
