Vol. 15—1961 - NorthEastern Weed Science Society

477.
We are facing tcday a competition betwe~n household uses
6.ilQ l'·ecrBntioll.:tl USCi3 (among others) for the available freshwater
supplies. The competition between these two uses 1s especially
acute, for the water to be used for recreational purposes must
be utilized in its natural state as 1t is contained in ponds, Lake s ,
and streams. This situation is further complicated because the
use of the water for recreational purposes usually precedes its
use as drinking water. At least when that sequence occurs, the
competition is greatest because recreational uses can cause the
water to become less pure relative to drinking water~andards.
In many watersheds the use of the water for recreational needs
involves first clearing the water of obnoxious weed growth through
the use of chemical weedicides tlillt are retained in the water for
a poriod of time before they detoxify or precipitate. Such a
si tuation causes coiaj der-ab.Le concern among those people who are
charged with the job of supplying drinking water to a human population.
That, of course, is how it should be. We certainly would
not want our water supply personnel to be oblivious to the dangers
of a polluted water supply.
The protective concern relative to water purity on the ~rt
of these people can be so strong, however, that they wish to set
up a priority system of water use. By priority system is meant
that the use of the water is reserved solely for potable purposes.
All other purposes being forbidden or greatly limited.
This attitude is de-finitely opposed to a "multiple-use
ll
program
of water utilization. A priority system is undesirable because it
inhibi ts progress in the search to find maber-i al,a and methods
whereby aquatic weeds can be controlled without harm to the water
supply. This is so for the follOWing reasons:
Since freshwater supplies are limited .by the amount of
rainfall, and the need for fresh water rises, with the growth of
th0 population and the economy, we can reach a time with a priority
sy stem when nearly all of the fresh waters will b e used and I' eserved
:or drinking supply only. (Some authorities have already set a
date in the not-too-distant future when fresh water demands will
excp,ed the present supply.) In other words, there will be only
:inited areas where recreational activity and the use of chemical
~'feedicides will be al Lowed , The consequence of hav i.ng only a
:imited area where weedicides might be used is a limited market.
3ut, no company can afford. to do research and testing of a product
~~ich will supply only a limited ma~ket, and the search for botter
aquatic weedicides will come practically to a halt. Competition
to' supply a rge merket, on the other hand, can speed up the
search to fJ.nd aquatic weed controls that are not d8trimental to
potable water supplies.
Many other products also used in and on our n;l.1u·al wator
supplies can suffer a decli.ne in sales because of" a prlop:l i.,y 'lti°
policy.