Andrew J. Garfinkel: Let Solarbees work

Regarding the April 21 Point of View “Reject the next Solarbee experiment”: Falls and Jordan lakes have been Clean Water Act impaired since filled. Recreational and drinking water users are at risk because of the official impairments – all caused by harmful algae.

For those who view watershed management as the sole solution, the science tells us that this approach alone will not work. Expending another $2 billion of local taxpayer funds on new pollutant-input reduction will have only a small incremental impact on the water body because it only slightly decreases runoff and pipe inputs, not groundwater and atmospheric inputs or the huge loads already cycling in the lakes.

The evidence suggests that direct interventions in the water body with systems such as the Solarbees and other technologies to remove pollutants are needed to reverse impairments. These systems have been scientifically validated, although not yet on the scale of lakes the size of Falls and Jordan.

The Jordan project invests less than $1.3 million versus $2 billion. Those who oppose water body treatments need to allow this scientific review to be completed.

If successful, several treatment technologies could be used for about $50 million per lake, along with the most cost-effective input-reduction practices, and restore the lakes quickly and at much less cost.

This story was originally published April 26, 2015 at 4:00 PM with the headline "Andrew J. Garfinkel: Let Solarbees work."