According to Don Richardson, Bakersfield Water superintendent, the big advantage of using an aquatic weed harvester is that they don’t have to use a lot of chemicals. “Using chemicals to kill weeds in lakes can be dangerous because the chemicals could seep into the groundwater. Also, one chemical treatment for a lake can cost about $16,000.”
The harvester will be used once a month on the lakes during the summer, although Truxtun Lake (California) takes two day to clean, but most of the smaller lakes only take a day. It is possible that the harvester may be used in the storm drainage basins or the Kern River when water hyhyacinth plants are flourishing.