In early 2023, LACA received a $9975 grant from DuPont to be used to execute projects that raise awareness in the community of ways to help reduce HAB.As part of the educational outreach, 27 students from LCHS biology classes and a dozen LACA volunteers installed native plants along the shoreline of a Lake Anna resident's home on Pamunkey Creek. They learned about native plants, water quality, and microorganisms living in the water. The plants will consume nutrients that otherwise would be available for promoting harmful algal blooms (HABs). The Environmental Preservation and Water Quality Committees recently submitted a grant request in response to the DuPont Clear Into The Future - 2023 program. LACA's request was approved, and we plan to initiate the project in January 2023. The objective of LACA's project is to introduce additional native aquatic vegetation in the lake. The project is focused on education, outreach, and the expansion of existing shoreline vegetation to establish natural nutrient consumers to reduce the amount of phosphorous and nitrogen available to the phytoplankton biomass in Lake Anna. Nutrients are primary food/energy sources for phytoplankton species that naturally occur in freshwater and are known to be primary contributors to the exponential growth of cyanobacteria that results in Harmful Cyanobacteria Blooms (HCBs). For more information on tips for homeowners, click here. |