The Polk County Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) Task Force made a recent purchase to help protect waterways in Polk County. The Polk County Commissioners authorized the Task Force to use $34,575 in state grant funding to purchase a CD3 Wayside Solar boat cleaning station.
Polk County Planning and Zoning Administrator Jake Snyder says the station will help clean water, which is the biggest transmitter of invasive species, out of boats. “The AIS Task Force purchased a CD3 Wayside Solar trailered boat cleaning station that we’ll have on boat access sites in the upcoming season,” said Snyder. “We hope to have it in early April so we can test out some of the tools on it. Basically, the unit is a way for people to clean, drain, dry their boats, and get all the water out of them. If they have some water left in the live well or billage or whatever. It’s got a vacuum on it. It’s basically to get people coming into our area lakes or out of our area lakes to clean their boats, get the water out of it because that’s what harbors the invasive species.”
The cleaning station is solar-powered and can clean up to 100 boats a day on its solar charge. It also includes several tools to help boaters keep Polk County waterways free of invasive species. “There’s a vacuum, that’s probably the biggest feature,” said Snyder. “It goes to a reservoir within the unit itself. The unit is solar-powered. It has lights on it for access use when it’s dark. There is also a grabber tool, a brush, as well as an air compressor that shoots compressed air. A nice feature to get in areas under the trailers, the nooks, and crannies within the mower, the lower unit. Ways to spray off to get the water dispersed out of those areas. Water is really the enemy in how these things are getting transported from lake to lake. If you get rid of the water, you’re getting rid of whatever you’re carrying from lake to lake.”
Snyder said inspectors will be promoting the use of the station this coming year. “The area inspectors that we’re having out at our boat access sites are going to promote these hard, let people know what to do,” said Snyder. “If they want to use them, they are totally free. Pull up to it, use the tools, clean boats, help keep our lakes clean too. We hope people use it, hope it’s popular. We’re excited to have the opportunity to put those tools on lake access sites in Polk County.”
The cleaning station will move between some of the more heavily used lakes, but Snyder said it will also be taken to specific water events. “We want to target where activities are going on,” said Snyder. “We want it to get used. That’s going to be our Maple, Union, Sarah Lakes. In a normal year, you have certain things that happen over in the Red River. Launch sites where they have the Catfish Days and Catfish Tournaments. We hope to haul it over there. Help people keep boats going through Polk County cleaned and drained, and in order before they go to different lakes and rivers.”
2020 AQUATIC INVASIVE SPECIES REPORT
Snyder also reported no new infestations of aquatic invasive species found in Polk County lakes during 2020. “We had no new infestations in area lakes,” said Snyder. “We do our zebra mussel test kits in our area lakes and make sure we don’t have a really dense population of zebra mussels. It doesn’t mean they’re not in there. It just means that we’re putting out the kits, which are simply things they can attach to, and we didn’t get any new hits on any of those. That’s always a plus. We know they work because they’re in the Red River, and we get them on the kit that we put in there every year. If they are in a water body, they seem to attract to that.”
That was especially impressive because Snyder said the lakes were busier than ever before. “COVID has been something that we’ve been dealing with for months now,” said Snyder. “Really lake access sites in Polk County were up, and people were recreating on them more than ever. It seemed that the pandemic pushed people to do things we all like to do – enjoy the lakes and enjoy the weather. We want people to be able to do that. It’s an important tourism thing for Polk County. For years, the thing we’ve talked about is giving people easier ways to clean their boats and get the clean, drain, dry initiative out. What we feel is if we put the tools out there, they are going to use them. This is a means of the AIS Task Force purchasing something with the state grant money we get. Area lake and boat users can use that. It’s free; go clean your boats with it.”
Tags:
