Roundup at Bloedel-Donovan

David Camp is the Whatcom Watch editor.

Bloedel-Donovan Park is a jewel in Bellingham’s excellent park system: popular, heavily used, and an easily accessible gateway to Lake Whatcom. However, its design dates from the days of “better things for better living ... through chemistry,” DuPont’s discredited mantra of the mid-20th century. Monoculture abounds, lawns are kept short, fence lines and walkways chemically clean.

But take a walk around the park and observe the effects of this approach: patchy grass separated by exposed mud that runs off into the lake, with no natural vegetation to filter runoff, especially runoff of phosphorous which is at record levels in the lake. How can the city improve its approach to be more protective of Lake Whatcom and its aquatic life?

The first might be to follow the advice the Whatcom County Parks Department has so kindly provided on a display placed right in the park. It reads in part:

“Backyard Buffers--When you look across Lake Whatcom, you’ll see many houses close to the water that have no plant buffers between the lawns and the lake. Without this buffer, when storm water drains into the lake there is nothing to slow down and filter pollutants before they enter the water. Planting a buffer with a mix of trees, shrubs, and perennials can protect the lake from many pollutants while also helping to slow down erosion, provide fish habitat, and frame your lake view in a pleasing manner.”

Why is the city not following this excellent advice from the county?

Local professor (retired) and native plant farmer Richard Haard has some further sage advice in this regard:

“The city should be serving as a better example for lake residents to make this intensive use drinking water reservoir recreation area truly ecologically friendly.

“It is not necessary to beat up city parks to save the lake - but everyone needs a role model. What is it with this fixation on green trimmed grass and sandy beaches? This is a reservoir lake not a Hawaii coral sand beach. We need a new stereotype for lake living. Here we have many miles of lakefront where owners should be encouraged to allow natural vegetation to sequester aquatic nutrients, reduce erosion, and provide wildlife habitat. In its own way a natural shoreline is very beautiful. Head down to Deception Pass park and look at the freshwater lake margin for a view of a natural and beautiful lake margin.

“It seems to me that city parks could be doing more and be a better example to the rest of the community. This is a high impact area and killing moss, manicuring the walkways, and grass monoculture shows parks management to be fixated on neat looks.

“Management could look at some low-cost projects (mainly labor) to put a buffer at the beach to intercept runoff. They need to keep the lawn longer, allow the lawn to develop moss. Close off access completely during wet winter months. They can also do a better job managing the rain catchments. It’s not just install and forget. Here some maintenance would be good but none is evident. Inlet to the water catchments needs to be cleaned, level lowered to encourage water inlet during high flow.

“There are many plant species that are quite rugged (turf-like) emergents that grow on the seasonal lake margin. Some are already at the outlet. Why not spread these Scirpus species and some others all along the waters edge? Why not excavate an intercept and make a tufted grassland catchment at the edge of the beach leading swimmers to the water at entrance places? Break that concrete walkway to the lake and divert runoff into a catchment.”

As Professor Haard mentions, the city is using cosmetic herbicides to maintain the park’s clean monoculture. According to city of Bellingham request for public records submitted by local fisherman Bill Black, cosmetic herbicides have been applied from 2004 to 2011 (the period covered by the requests). Walkways and fence lines are sprayed with Monsanto’s glyphosate herbicide “Roundup” to kill any trace of vegetation. Tree circles and shrub beds are also sprayed with “Roundup” to keep them chemically tidy. Stumps are sprayed with Garlon 4a (brand name for triclopyr, a broad-leaf herbicide) in order to kill the roots. Horsetails are sprayed with another triclopyr compound (Lily Miller Blackberry and Brush Killer). And wet area weeds such as knotweed are sprayed with “Aquamaster,” another glyphosate compound.

The city's reports of pesticide use in the park contain no mention of the use of any moss-killing herbicides. But there is very little moss in the grassed areas of the park. This is mysterious; without some kind of chemical control, most lawns in Whatcom County have significant moss growth. Moss that would provide magnificent filtering of runoff and erosion control for the lake. It is mysterious indeed how moss appears to have been banished from Bloedel Donovan. Just compare and contrast the monoculture turf of Bloedel to the rich multi-species growth in the little park across the street at the corner of Electric and Alabama.

So what's the problem with herbicide use in our drinking water reservoir watershed?

First is its toxicity to aquatic life. The EU classifies Roundup as: "R51/53 toxic to aquatic organisms, may cause long-term adverse effects in the aquatic environment" 1. It is particularly toxic to amphibians2. Triclopyr is slightly toxic to ducks and quail and very slightly toxic to fish 3,4. Shouldn't the city set a better example of stewardship of its own water supply by using non-toxic items in the watershed?

Second is the underlying philosophy that only grass and trees are acceptable park flora. The emphasis on clean monoculture lawns, supported by use of herbicides has produced a landscape of patchy grass, erosion of exposed dirt into the lake, and no filtering of phosphorous from the runoff. Again, shouldn't the city provide a better example by incorporating buffers, planting a wider range of vegetation, and thus filtering runoff before it enters the lake?

The request for City of Bellingham public records was made by Bill Black: