Its undoubtedly frustrating — you're looking to cool off from the summer heat, you go to a lake to enjoy the water and you see a sign – the lake, or part of it, has been or is about to be treated with aquatic herbicides to control nuisance or noxious weeds.
When can you go swimming, or let your dog into the water to cool off?
Because we get so many questions like this, we’ve created a new website, Quick Reference Guide: Water Use After Herbicide Treatment.
Here, we provide answers to these questions for you. The new web page summarizes how and when you can use the water after waters have been treated.
In the past, the information available on Ecology’s web has been very technical. This new page aims to provide information about when you can use the water after aquatic herbicide treatment in a user friendly, non-technical way, and provide a consistent message from Ecology. Information about each herbicide addresses five use categories:
- Potable (drinking) Water Use.
- Swimming & Water Contact Activities.
- Irrigation & Home Lawn/Garden Use.
- Livestock/Domestic Animal Water Use.
Advisories are Ecology’s suggestion that the water not be used for a purpose for a period of time.
We hope you find this information useful.
Learn more about pesticides to control aquatic plants and algae.