No Difference

Year 1 results are in and the Solar Bee circulators have made no statistical difference in improving water quality in Jordan Lake.  That’s the state’s finding in a report they presented to the legislature in October. The circulators were pitched as a low cost solution to cleaning Jordan lake back in 2013.  Deployed in the summer of 2014, they’ve had a year to prove they can make a difference.  In that time, however, the Division of Water Resources reports that the data basically looks the same with them as it does without them.  More critically, the lake’s impairment has not improved.

What needs to be done? For starters, the legislature should stop expecting Solar Bees to be the magic pill to curing pollution in the lake. They should reinstate the Division of Water Resources rules which they have delayed until 2020 so that they can study these circulators. Measurable improvement depends on actions aimed at keeping out polluted runoff and municipal waste, not on spinning it around.