Priorities: Lawns or Ponds

This is a topic that really bothers me. We, rightly, crow loudly about our wonderful salt ponds and freshwater lakes. They are the central defining feature of our lovely community. It's no coincidence that we chose a view of a salt pond for our header photo at Progressive Charlestown.

But then we, individually and as a town, do things to favor personal convenience over the quality of our waters. Many places in the USA where water quality is considered important put restrictions on fertilizer. I'm not a water quality expert but I understand that nitrate restriction is the priority for salt water ponds and phosphate restriction is the priority for freshwater lakes.

Of course there is controversy, whenever government does something that could impact corporate profits (the Koch brothers are probably involved), but a web search on fertilizer restrictions will give you a sense of how states with water resources (Florida, five states around the Great Lakes, even new Jersey) feel about this. This article gives an example. Here is another.

You will be seeing more of this topic on Progressive Charlestown but here is a good article to read, from the South Kingston Patch.com.

Author: Tom Ferrio