Chemical Weed Control

The summer months prior to starting the Board’s annual weedcutting operations are always a difficult time for drainage engineers. We need to find a balance between efficient conveyance of water, the natural wildlife environment and cost efficiency.

In an ideal world we would enjoy unlimited access to our watercourses and they would all be kept clear of vegetation to give a watercourse offering 100{9fcb0816a44013d629a78a3f57e10f2f810d8d6a61301737ace998a11867ae9a} efficiency in terms of water conveyance.

However this is not realistic and therefore we, as a Board, have invested heavily in the use of approved chemicals to maintain the flows during these summer months. Chemical control has been used as an alternative to flail mowing and weed cutting, now using only  Roundup Pro-Biactive which is approved for aquatic use.

The Board’s Renault Ares tractor and Herder Cavalier flail have been adapted to carryout the spraying operations.

Approximately 50 miles of priority watercourse have been sprayed in 2010