County reports 106 miles of spot spraying, 41,138 spray "switch" events this season
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Summary
County staff reported in a project update that spot spraying has covered 106 miles of right-of-way so far this year, with the spray system registering 41,138 on/off events; main targets this season are trees, Canada thistle and poison hemlock, and the RAGBRAI route was treated before the event.
County staff told the Board of Supervisors on Aug. 19 that the county’s integrated vegetation management and spot-spraying program has so far recorded 41,138 spray on/off actions and covered 106 miles of right-of-way.
“We've flipped the switch 41,138 times,” a county staff presenter said during the project updates. The staff member reported the 106 miles figure as the mileage where the boom was activated for spot treatment.
Why it matters: Vegetation control along rights-of-way affects roadside safety and visibility as well as environmental concerns about herbicide use. Numbers the county provided give residents and supervisors a metric for program scale and activity.
The presenter said the three biggest problems this season were trees, Canada thistle and poison hemlock. Staff also said they sprayed the RAGBRAI route before the event arrived.
Staff acknowledged that heavy rain had increased growth and that complaints about spraying locations had come in, but said overall complaints were not excessive. The update also noted the county has completed spraying the southern half of the county this spring and is roughly two-thirds of the way through the northern half, with efforts continuing the next 10 days depending on weather.
The report was an informational update; no policy changes or funding requests were recorded in the meeting transcript.