Mira Lago is a small neighborhood within the confines of Palmer Ranch that has been working with START and the Healthy Pond Collaborative on a Healthy Pond Management Program that has helped them move from good intensions to measurable results.
Their pond journey began with the establishment of No Mower Zones to Keep heavy lawn mowers off their pond banks to help prevent costly erosion. They simultaneously planted a variety of native aquatic plants along the littoral shelves and shorelines. These early efforts were not always successful as over-spraying with copper sulfate that lingered in the sediment took a toll on the survival rate of the plant stock. Not everyone was pleased as some residents complained about the “untidy look” of the No Mower Zone and questioned the presence of “weeds” in their ponds. Despite the discord of some negative voices, the Board and the pond committee remained resolute in advocating the value of the Healthy Pond Management Program and eventually won over the residents.
What turned the tide was a combination of economics and ecology. Objections to the No Mower Zones notably declined as residents became aware of other communities spending $80.00 per linear foot on GeoTube to remediate their ailing pond banks that had not been protected by a No Mower Zone. Residents also began to take pride in the impact of their pond’s improved nutrient footprint downstream in the fight against red tide. Probably the biggest impact on the residents’ support for the Healthy Pond Program was the visible return of abundant wildlife to their ponds. It’s hard to argue with the program when you are watching a pond come back to life.
However, even with the ongoing planting efforts, Mira Lago continued to experience periodic outbreaks of filamentous algae. Their pond services company explained that typically shallow stormwater ponds allow sunlight to reach the bottom creating ideal conditions to support algal growth which eventually rises to the surface as an unsightly green mat. The use of biodegradable “black dye” that limits light penetration helped control some of the algae, but the pond committee observed that their ponds with dense stands of volunteered spatterdock lilies rarely experienced algal blooms. That led the pond committee to introduce Mexican and fragrant water lilies as shown in the picture above. To protect the plants from predation by turtles, who can eliminate young plants overnight, they installed temporary cages. Once established, the lilies spread shading the bottom and absorbing nutrients that significantly reduced algae growth.