Community rallies to clean lake weed

LENNOX Head Landcare has been supported by a growing number of volunteers to help remove large amounts of water hyacinth at Lake Ainsworth.

The group has put in about 200 hours of work at the lake with more than 30 volunteers.

The extra volunteers came from the dragon boat club, school students, local sport and recreation staff, kayakers and holidaymakers.

The hyacinth is an aquatic weed, which floats on the water surface and can double in size every five days during its growing season.

It first appeared at the lake in January 2015, with volunteers working through the summer months to keep it in check.

However, this year’s growth season has made it much more challenging, requiring far greater effort to manage.

“It was really humbling to see so many people just jump in and help us,” Lennox Head Landcare project coordinator Kelly Saunderson said.

“Last summer we had a few problems where we were short on volunteers and there was a lot of blue-green algae in the lake.

“It got away from us, so we had to put a call out to say that we needed a lot of help.

“We’re just grateful that the community have come together and were so willing to be involved.”

Ballina Shire Council organised a weed harvester to remove a large mass of weed which had settled into the northern section of the lake.

Ms Saunderson believes the hyacinth will be an ongoing problem for years to come.

“It could be around for another 20 years,” she said.

“We think it first arrived from the bottom of a shoe or the tyre of someone’s car.

“It’s manageable as long as we get on top of it in the summer months.”

There will be more volunteer days to come with the group aiming for short one-hour clean-ups.

Anyone interested in helping can contact them at lennoxheadlandcare.org.