what is the purpose of spraying pesticides along the canal (lawns, cat)
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.........I would have told him to either stop spraying or you'll video record his maintenance men doing so, and then turn it over to the agency or district that is responsible for the irrigation canal. But that's just me. I don't take any guff.
....... So I ask, what is the purpose of spraying the weeds along the canal behind our units? I called and talked to him, but the guy is combative. He was a jerk.
The purpose of spraying the weeds in the irrigation canal is to kill the weeds, prevent interference of irrigation flow and to get rid of any dangerous or disease causing pests in the canal. It's as plain and simple as that.
Of most relevance to you and your cats - killing the weeds removes hiding places for venomous snakes, rodents and other pests and disease carrying insects. Now there's less likelihood of your cats picking up blood sucking ticks and other nasty things and bringing them into your unit to you after they've been playing in the canal. If you want to keep your cats healthy and safe you should probably keep your cats out of the green parts of the canal that still have weeds in them.
You talked to the manager and you say he was a combative jerk. Okay, so whatever. But what was the reason he gave you for spraying the weeds? Or did he just hang up on you as soon as he heard your voice?
Edited to add: Never mind, I see OP is no longer a CD member.
[quote=luv4horses;55409456]I provided an explanation of why pesticides are used on canals and ditches. But the poster apparently did not care. By pointing out that each party may have thought the other was combative I had hoped the poster would think about that and come up with a different way of speaking with the person tasked with maintaining the area. Nobody would go to the trouble and expense of pesticides just for the fun of it. There was a reason.[/QUOTE
huh? all I saw was you carrying on about what someone else said about him being combative, when there was no evidence of it, and it wasn't helping him with his question which was, why do people spray weeds. So that's I said, huh? I didn't make it past your first lengthy paragraph where you were explaining the previous person's comment about him maybe being combative. It's like, dude, don't explain what everyone else already knows. It makes for insufferable commentary. I didn't even make it to the meat of your answer, sadly. But that's your own fault.
Nope, not about the cat at all. I'd be pretty combative about someone poisoning the waterway and everything in it, the poor cat just being collateral damage. Not to mention anyone within breathing range of the scorched earth. I bet there are other ways of dealing with some weeds.
Unless there has been drift onto your rented property or the water has been contaminated by something illegal, you have no standing.
It sounds like your cats have been running wild on property you do not have legal use of. In many areas they would be captured by animal control or dispatched on site.
Pesticides are used to get rid of disease carrying insects like mosquitoes (West Nile) & crop eating insects. Herbicides are used to get rid of invasive & toxic weeds and to prevent them from going to seed and spreading. Property owners & ditch associations are responsible & liable for controlling both. Canals also use a moss killer to reduce amount of excessive moss growth that impedes water flow. All such chemicals must be applied & used in a lawful manner.
Last edited by historyfan; 06-13-2019 at 11:49 AM..
If plants are dead, it is not a pesticide, but rather an herbicide.
In most areas it is the law to keep weeds away from the water irrigation ditches.
Three reasons: the weeds produce seeds that flow down the ditch with the water and spread weeds everywhere the water goes. Whoever is using the water to irrigate doesn't not appreciate the gift of noxious weed seeds.
Another reason is that weeds slow down the flow of the water. When the water slows, more soaks onto the ground and less of it reaches it's destination.
Weed roots tend to break down the walls of the ditch which causes expensive repairs.
I suggest that you have your cat use the next door neighbor's ditch weeds to play in. (I am assuming that you actually have written permission to keep a cat in your apartment)
A Couple things at play here, but I kind of disagree. This could be an East Coast vs West water thing and you have a different understanding of it. OP uses the term "irrigation" canal or ditch but I wonder if it's actually an irrigation canal or a drainage ditch. She also uses the term "weeds" but I wonder if they are "weeds" in the "noxious weed" sense that a Crop Science professor would use or simply vegetation.
1) I would think that vegetation would prevent erosion wearing away the ditch
2) Vegetation does a good job at filtering and cleaning runoff; around here messing with wetland plants can get you in a heap of trouble if you go about it the wrong way
3) If someone is irrigating don't you think they might prefer to deal with weeds rather than an herbicide in the water they're pumping to their crops?
4) Anything that slows down the flow of water or disperses it is considered a good thing (at least around here) because it allows the ground to absorb more of it and doesn't raise the creeks and rivers so fast as to cause flooding problems
I know when I lived in the Midwest there were minor disputes about farmers haying the road ditches. The county sometimes frowned on that because by mowing/cutting them they removed a natural barrier for snow and caused more drifting of snow across the roads.
Well, they may be applied in a lawful manner, but that assumes the folks making the laws know what they're doing and care about public health. Used to be you could legally spray DDT and even Agent Orange as pesticides and herbicides. It did the job, but the collateral damage was huge.
im not sure why edujop is getting all "not caring about your cats health" here. this has nothing to do with her cat's health.
The real question about the cat, since it is going outside, is whether or not it is spayed/neutered. Shelters are already full of unwanted cats (and dogs).
I did not get the impression that you were being combative. (not that it matters to me). You had a concern, and the manager was defensive, I get it. Some people are just defensive by nature, especially property managers who aren't used to be challenged, however so gently, by lowly tenants. Instead of being a nice guy, and acting apologetic and being embarrassed about caring about your cats health, I would have been assertive. I don't apologize for caring about my pets. I would have told him to either stop spraying or you'll video record his maintenance men doing so, and then turn it over to the agency or district that is responsible for the irrigation canal. But that's just me. I don't take any guff.
If you came at me with that behavior you’d be receiving a 30 day eviction notice. I don’t put up with tenants telling me how to maintain my property.
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