Fight against water plague: special boat in use at the Northeim leisure lake

Fight against water plague: special boat in use at the Northeim leisure lake

At the Northeim leisure lake, a special boat is providing a breath of fresh air in the fight against waterweed, an invasive aquatic plant from the frogbite family that originally comes from North America. How Hna.de Reportedly, the amphibious vehicle, which moves on both water and land, was deployed in July last year. Members of the local clubs use this boat to declare war on the water plague.

Two main steps are planned to combat waterweed. First, the plants should be separated at a depth of up to two meters with a mower. The floating plant material is then collected with a rake and brought to land. Bernd Henze, one of the club members, can bring around 500 kilos of waterweed onto land per tour. Despite these efforts, clubs have faced delays this year as they had to wait for the NLWKN to map the vegetation zones.

Shared commitment to the lake

The options for limiting vegetation are set on the beach, between the north harbor and the island and in the western part of the lake. The city of Northeim is responsible for removing the biomass, and has so far removed around 20 tons of water pollution. Another 20 tons are planned. It should be noted that complete removal of the waterweed would require an estimated 14 days of shift work, which is unfortunately not feasible. There are considerations to set up an additional collection point on the west bank to improve logistics.

The monastery chamber helped the city of Northeim by waiving the rental fee of 50,000 euros per year in order to support the purchase of the mowing boat, which cost a total of 150,000 euros. This measure enables residents to no longer participate in the lease. In return, the clubs take on the care and maintenance work around the leisure lake. The clubs have budgeted a total of 20,000 euros to operate the boat, with 5,000 euros earmarked for operation and 15,000 euros for reserves to purchase a new mowing boat in around ten years.

Outlook and challenges

Fighting waterweed requires a lot of cooperative effort and good organization. Despite the challenges associated with this task, there is great optimism on site. The commitment of the members of the local associations and the support of institutions such as the monastery chamber show that Northeim has a good hand when it comes to sustainably preserving the water quality and the beauty of the recreational lake.

Finally, it is also important that citizens and visitors take part in the maintenance measures in order to ensure the natural experience at the recreational lake. Together we can make a real contribution to ecological balance here in Northeim and protect the water landscape for future generations.