An aqua mower capsized in Lake Kittamaqundi while performing routine lake management operations.
On Tuesday afternoon, Columbia Association posted a story on social media about the incident informing people that all CA staff are safe and that protective measures will be in place, even though no fuel or oil leaks have been noticed.
“During routine lake management operations at Lake Kittamaqundi, an aquamower (Chompers) capsized. All Columbia Association (CA) staff are safe. While no fuel or oil leaks have been noticed, protective measures will be in place. CA is conducting a full investigation and coordinating a safe recovery of the equipment,” the Facebook story reads.
Julie Miller is director of communications and public relations for Columbia Association. On Wednesday, Miller told Baltimore Fishbowl that an investigation is ongoing, so CA is not able to state definitively how the boat capsized. Miller did say, however, that there was only one person on the aqua mower at the time and they were able to be rescued by another boat that was in the lake at the time. The person did not require medical assistance.
“Once we’re able to retrieve it, [we’ll] see if we can figure out … what happened, … see if we can do any repairs or what happens next,” Miller said. “There was one person on it, and there was another boat in the vicinity, so they were quickly rescued and removed from the the water.”
Aqua mowers are essentially underwater lawn mowers, used to cut through invasive weeds and aquatic plants. Columbia Association uses them in their lakes instead of chemicals to avoid kill vegetation unnecessarily. They allow for removing weeds and trimming excess vegetation while leaving behind living plants that oxygenate the water for other organisms in the water.
Danielle Tyeryar is sustainability manager at Columbia Association. She told Baltimore Fishbowl in an email that each lake is mowed or cut approximately every three weeks during the growing season.
“CA owns and operates four aquatic mowers,” Tyeryar said. “We have two large aquatic harvesters and two small aquatic cutters dedicated to this operation.”
Editor’s note: This article has been updated with the addition of comments from Columbia Association officials, and to correct the day the incident occurred.
