To Weed or not to Weed, that is the Question
(No, this has nothing to do with smoking)
For years we have struggled to find ways to mitigate the various invasive plant species in our lake, to no avail. Some attempted control methods, such as “weed harvesting”, have actually exacerbated the problem by leaving cut weeds in the lake. Not only were property owners left with cleaning up the mess, but the cut-offs eventually settle to the bottom, re-root, and more than replace the parent, while the rest degrades and adds to another problem, which is the build-up of sediment. The proliferation of aquatic plant species also robs the water of oxygen, which makes it difficult for the aquatic wildlife to thrive. Long term lake property owners can attest to this result.
TIMES ARE CHANGING! New developments in herbicides and approaches by DEC make us optimistic that we could treat areas of the lake and significantly reduce milfoil and potentially other plants. Of course, herbicide treatments aren’t a permanent fix and would probably require annual or bi-annual treatments. We have received some preliminary budget information from a licensed applicator for one of the potential herbicides and are working to refine this into a plan.
If this is of interest to you, please complete the form here. However, if you think you can benefit from your neighbor’s treatment of the lake, you are wrong! This is directly applied to specific areas and does not travel, which is one of the reasons it is EPA approved.
We would like to start this in the Spring. If you have a neighbor(s) who are not members of the Lake Association, please encourage them to join and get involved. A group effort can go a long way toward mitigating a “growing” problem. We look forward to hearing from you, and so do the fish.