An explanation for the dead flowers along the river
Photo courtesy Carol Parenzan, Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper
SUNBURY – In Sunbury, you may have noticed that all of those colorful wildflowers that were along the Susquehanna River the past few years have disappeared. Jeff Lewis, Sunbury Municipal Authority Flood Department manager has some answers, and says a lot of it was because of the large trees that were removed from the area years ago.
“What happened over the last five years was, there was a lot of woody growth that started to grow in there. That you do not want to grow in the stones. What it does is it pushes it up, it starts displacing it, then the high water comes and it starts wearing away the bank,” he said.
Herbicide was used to kill everything on the bank area with the exception of the grass. People have voiced concerns over the use of herbicide so close to the river, but Jeff Lewis says it’s nothing to be concerned about, “The herbicides we spray are ‘aquatic safe’ their called, which allows you to spray close to river’s edge and everything. We don’t spray into the water’s edge.”
Lewis reassures us that the flowers will be back in the future, “It’s a process, this is definitely going to be a process, until it comes back, but in a year or two it’s going to come back strong and we shouldn’t have to do this anymore then.” Jeff Lewis notes he’s not only an employee of the city, but he’s a citizen who uses that riverbank, and personally wants the flowers to return. (Christopher Elio)
