With Leaves Still Falling, Ameren Says Keep Them Out Of The Lake…

With the falling of the leaves still in force around the lake area, officials continue urging waterfront property owners not to discard their leaves simply by raking or blowing them into the lake.

Greg Stoner, environmental compliance specialist for Ameren-Missouri, says the main problem with leaves in the lake is the uncertain balance of nutrients getting into the water.

“Too few is you suffer. You can have too many and that can lead to algae blooms which nobody wants. You know you want to swim in a nice clear body of water so that you know the algae can be a big problem. Also, that decomposition uses up dissolved oxygen.”

Stoner goes onto say that there are several options when it comes to disposing of your leaves.

They include: bagging and removing them; chopping them up for mulch; using as compost for gardens; using them as an overwintering habitat for insects; and burning them as long as the burning is not in the lakebed and it’s a safe time to burn.