Would generate a fund to control invasive species, algae blooms
The Senate passed legislation
introduced by Sen. V. Susan Sosnowski (D-Dist. 37, South Kingstown) that would
create the Rhode Island Lake Management Program.
Photo by Will Collette
The bill (2023-S
0502A) would create
a restricted receipt account to aid with lake and pond management issues
relating to the control of invasive aquatic plants.
“Local
wetlands are being threatened by invasive aquatic weeds,” said Senator
Sosnowski. “This bill would be a first step to start a program at the
Department of Environmental Management. The situation is becoming worse with
warming temperatures, and it’s creating biological imbalance in these
freshwater bodies. We have to be proactive to protect our lakes, which provide
us with recreation, flood mitigation and an important habitat to plants and
animals.”
Conditions
in many Rhode Island lakes, ponds and tributaries are threatened or degraded by
the growth of aquatic invasive plants, harmful algal blooms, nutrient
enrichment and other water pollution problems. Restoring conditions in the
state’s freshwater resources is essential to sustaining the valuable ecosystem
services they provide.
The
measure now moves to the House of Representatives for consideration.
