LCYD Member's Letter to Editor published today

Use science research toprotect Wakulla Springs
Re: “Changes to come to spray fields” (news article, Jan. 4).

It's great to see the city of Tallahassee and Wakulla County are communicating about the spray field. I hope the recent announcement is a sign of more and better thought out changes to come soon.

Suspending fertilizer application seems to be a step in the right direction, but there is no evidence to support that the removal of cattle will reduce the total nitrogen loading to the groundwater below the spray field.

Cattle will always defecate less nitrogen than they ate. Additionally, as nitrogen travels through the cattle's medley of stomachs, greater than half of it is converted into a volatile form, which means that more than half the nitrogen plopped down as cowpies won't enter the ground water.
Cattle were an effective and inexpensive way to move nitrogen completely out of the Wakulla springshed. Mechanical harvesting will be more expensive, which takes money away from other potential treatment options. Let's start really protecting Wakulla Springs by using science research instead of "common sense" notions.

THURE CAIRE