By Dave Reichert – June 2023

LACA received a $9975 grant from DuPont to execute a project to raise awareness of how landowners can help reduce HAB and install native plants to consume nutrients that otherwise would be available for promoting harmful algal blooms. Two events were completed and additional plantings are being scheduled. We are currently looking for landowners with a long, shallow-water shoreline for in-water installation of native plants. We are also looking for owners of shorter shorelines who are interested in receiving free native aquatic plants in exchange for doing the planting themselves. We are focusing on locations up lake where the benefits of the new plantings would be greatest.

As part of the educational outreach, 27 students from Anna Burkett’s Louisa County High School biology class and a dozen volunteers descended on the Quaglio property on Pumunkey creek for a day of learning about native plants, water quality, and the micro-organisms living in the water. They also planted 200 native plants in the water and along the shoreline. With very little arm twisting, the students convinced school superintendent Doug Straley to don waders and do some planting in the water. The weather was fabulous and the consensus was that this should become an annual event. The students followed up with a wonderful thank you note.

The second event saw the planting of 900 native shoreline and aquatic plants along the common area at Clearview Shores. We did save a small portion of the plants for volunteers to plant along their own shoreline. Mother nature smiled upon us again with a sunny morning for our planting event which was completed in just a couple hours.

If you are interested in volunteering your up-lake shoreline for in-water planting or volunteering your time, please reach out to our LACA Environmental Chairs Lara.Weatherholtz@lakeannavirginia.org, and Mark.Debord@lakeannavirginia.org.

david.reichert@lakeannavirginia.org