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Monday, January 15, 2018

Lake Hopatcong Foundation Gets Lots of Money

News from the Lake Hopatcong Foundation. Part of the message---Read Full Update--I clicked on copied, pasted at bottom. I'm just a little nervous about weed removal. That's not to say I'm right to be nervous about it, but that I don't know. I do know that since Lake Musconetcong was treated chemically with weed killer, water clarity so great that you could read a dime on the bottom five feet down, became a turbid mess like diarrhea. Fishing suffered. The best I've been able to estimate, and other people say same, the flourishing population of pickerel is all but gone from the lake.

To the best of my knowledge, chemical treatment of Lake Hopatcong vegetation is not in any of the plans. I interviewed the state and Knee Deep Club about the most recent fisheries survey on the lake, and my understanding is that weed removal here involves a harvesting device. This is not to say, however, that no concerns for fish populations with regard to weed harvesting exist. But the best I could gather is that the concerns are only marginal. If I rightly recall, some fingerling bass might get scooped in the process, but then maybe I'm only imagining this, rather than remembering. Maybe the issue is habitat, but not about serious loss.

I've got notes from those interviews. But God help me find them. The article I wrote for Lake Hopatcong News in final form doesn't go into the issue, I believe, but maybe I will check on this.

Overabundance of aquatic vegetation you can blame on lawn fertilizers, for a big factor. Other factors involve impervious surfaces and what's on them when rain washes over the concreate and asphalt. That's of lesser concern than fertilizer. I wish I could remember the percentage of impervious surface in relation to the total area of the state. It's a very high ratio. More than roadways, parking lots in paradise to paraphrase Joni Mitchel, are rooftops and patios, sidewalks and cartops. Another factor yet in some waterway situations, doubtfully Hopatcong, I believe is phosphate from washing machines...if I imagine correctly that sewage treatment does not alter the PH factor that affects water and plant life in turn. Last, but far from least, the biggest factor we may confront in our concern for waterways is climate change. PH balance, and nutrient balance with regard to fertilizers, depend a great deal on water temperature to possibly get things way out of whack.

I never forget. Late March 2012, standing at Lake Carnegie's aqueduct, and viewing water lilies up. Blooming, no, not yet. But March temperatures, days on end, in the 70's and 80's....what may we become?

Storm water management is unambiguously good to me.

$500,000.00 annual dollars is a whole lot of money. None of it should be loosely wasted, in my opinion.

I wonder what the "more" is.


Change.org
Lake Hopatcong Foundation shared an update on New Jersey Governor and Legislature: Support Lake Hopatcong in New Jersey's 2016 Budget Check it out and leave a comment:
Petition Update

Lake Hopatcong Fund: You helped make it happen!


We received word this morning that, after passage through the state senate and assembly, Gov. Christie signed legislation that has established a permanent source of funding for Lake Hopatcong! The Lake Hopatcong Fund will bring $500,000 annually to the lake through motorboat license fees, helping to support aquatic weed control, storm water management, water quality reporting, and more. In...
You signed Lake Hopatcong Foundation‘s petition, “New Jersey Governor and Legislature: Support Lake Hopatcong in New Jersey's 2016 Budget”, on Jan 12, 2016

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FUlLL UPDATE::

Petition update

Lake Hopatcong Fund: You helped make it happen!

Lake Hopatcong Foundation
Jan 15, 2018 — We received word this morning that, after passage through the state senate and assembly, Gov. Christie signed legislation that has established a permanent source of funding for Lake Hopatcong! The Lake Hopatcong Fund will bring $500,000 annually to the lake through motorboat license fees, helping to support aquatic weed control, storm water management, water quality reporting, and more. In addition to thanking our local state legislators, who crafted this legislation and advocated for its passage, we have to thank ALL OF YOU who signed this petition. With 2,241 signatures, you helped generate more than 31,000 (!!!) letters to New Jersey officials asking for the state to financially support the management of Lake Hopatcong.

There have been a LOT of behind-the-scenes efforts to make this happen; the Lake Hopatcong Foundation has been advocating for consistent funding for the lake since we were established six years ago, and our representatives in Trenton from the 24th, 25th, and 26th districts (including state senators Oroho, Bucco, and Pennacchio) have been working on such legislation for years. The subject has regularly been a part of the Lake Hopatcong Commission discussion, too. But nothing beats an engaged group of citizens, so THANK YOU for playing your part in helping to protect and improve the Lake Hopatcong environment and experience.

Cheers to you, from the LHF team. And cheers to beautiful Lake Hopatcong!

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