Last week Thursday, Killarney-Turtle partnered with the Killarney Lake Action Committee to host a day with the Province of Manitoba Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) specialists, Candace Parks and Stafano Strapazzon.
The Grade 12 Biology class at Killarney School participated in a Q&A presentation with Parks and Strapazzon on how to thwart the spread of AIS into Killarney Lake, the greater threat at this time being zebra mussels.
In the afternoon the municipal council was able to discuss options for Killarney Lake moving forward. The evening presentation was open to the public to learn more and to ask questions from community members and stakeholders.
"I think people need to realize that the spread of AIS or Aquatic Invasive Species is preventable, and that humans are the main threat moving it from one water body to another," shares Parks. "So, people will say it might be wildlife transferring AIS. But no AIS will spread either by water movement [naturally] or by human transport, so the one way is preventable and that is by the human transport."
"So, we want people to get into the behavior of always doing a clean, drain and dry when leaving any water body," she adds. "This applies not only to people angling, but also if you're going to the beach with your family and you have your life jacket or your sand toys. Everything needs to be cleaned, drained, dried. They are simple, quick steps. They'll prevent a new invasion in the water body. It's easy to do and effective."
Please listen to more with Candace Parks below as she shares on other aquatic invasive species, and how the Province monitors Manitoba lakes, including Killarney Lake.
"It was a wonderful day," shares Mayor Janice Smith in reflection of the AIS presentations on Thursday. "When you get to learn more about a potential problem, it makes you more aware of what we need to do so we don't get into a state where there are zebra mussels, or any other invasive species, in our lake."
Smith says building awareness of the detrimental effects of AIS once invasive species have infested a water body is critical. Educating the public is crucial.
"I think it was great to bring the Province to Killarney to help us better understand this, because they are the experts here. We needed to hear the pros, the cons, the myths, the truths about what we are dealing with. Also, to be able to ask questions and have those questions answered truthfully and intelligently was very important."
Mayor Smith says there will certainly be further discussion between Council and the Province.
"This year it looks like it will be more of an educational year for us all," she adds. "We need to focus on Clean, Drain and Dry whenever we leave any water body. That was the message that I think was said loud and clear, that this is something that everyone can do all the time. You don't need to have any special equipment."
Why Clean, Drain and Dry equipment, watercraft, toys, etc when leaving every water body?
Because we just don't know which water body might be in the very early stages of infestation that hasn't been caught yet. This accidental spreading of AIS to another water body is really that simple to affect an otherwise clean lake.
AIS specialist, Candace Parks, says the more people are aware of doing their due diligence with this simple practice the more we can hold off infestation.
"Think of it like putting on your seatbelt," she says. "Every time you get in your vehicle you automatically put on your seatbelt. So, every time you leave a water body, you should automatically clean, drain and dry everything that has come in contact with that water."
"You know, people always say it's going to happen anyways," adds Parks. "I'd say 'no', we can slow it down. And every year we slow down an invasion that saves lots of money put on the municipality or on the province. So, prevention is our best defense. It is the most effective cost-effective thing we could do, compared to waiting for the problem is in your backyard and now you're trying to deal with it, those expenses are huge. So again, with work on prevention, clean drain, dry, we can slow the spread," adds Parks.