Milfoil and invasive plants

pcmc · 10-04-2020, 08:13 PM

I was looking at pictures of the lake and the low water level, and have a question for the lake experts.
With the water level so low and the boating season winding down, with little activity, ...Why don’t the divers pull up the invasive weeds during this time of year?
It Seems it would be safer and possibly easier due to the lower lake level. My only knowledge of this was watching a diver feed weeds into some sort of huge vacuum system on a boat next to him, a few years ago, so I am asking sincerely.

Thankyou

Descant · 10-05-2020, 08:56 AM

Milfoil management is mostly funded by boat registration fees, municipalities and lake associations. DES develops 5 year management plans, based in part on anticipated funds. For many areas the most effective treatment is in the spring with some follow up in the fall. I'd expect that funds are dried up (sorry) by now. When the 2020 plans were developed in 2019, nobody knew what the 2020 rainfall would be. I don't think it matters to divers if the water is 8' deep or 6'.
The suction operation is called Diver Assisted Suction Harvesting (DASH). Usually an accompanying boat would follow to pick up fragments that would otherwise drift, sink and root. The divers are specially trained and certified for this work.

webmaster · 10-05-2020, 09:52 AM

Hopefully the effort has got more serious since I posted this in 2015:

https://www.winnipesaukee.com/forums...d.php?p=251764

FlyingScot · 10-05-2020, 10:06 AM

There's an excellent milfoil effort led by DES that is working pretty much the entire season. I suppose some areas are a bit easier to attack now than in June. OTOH, those areas have had an extra 3 months to grow. Either way, the crew looks at this from a year round perspective, and they are fully aware of the pluses and minuses of various approaches

10-04-2020, 08:13 PM	#1
pcmc Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 412 Thanks: 211 Thanked 106 Times in 73 Posts	Milfoil and invasive plants I was looking at pictures of the lake and the low water level, and have a question for the lake experts. With the water level so low and the boating season winding down, with little activity, ...Why don’t the divers pull up the invasive weeds during this time of year? It Seems it would be safer and possibly easier due to the lower lake level. My only knowledge of this was watching a diver feed weeds into some sort of huge vacuum system on a boat next to him, a few years ago, so I am asking sincerely. Thankyou

10-05-2020, 08:56 AM	#2
Descant Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Merrimack and Welch Island Posts: 4,352 Thanks: 1,342 Thanked 1,623 Times in 1,055 Posts	Money? Milfoil management is mostly funded by boat registration fees, municipalities and lake associations. DES develops 5 year management plans, based in part on anticipated funds. For many areas the most effective treatment is in the spring with some follow up in the fall. I'd expect that funds are dried up (sorry) by now. When the 2020 plans were developed in 2019, nobody knew what the 2020 rainfall would be. I don't think it matters to divers if the water is 8' deep or 6'. The suction operation is called Diver Assisted Suction Harvesting (DASH). Usually an accompanying boat would follow to pick up fragments that would otherwise drift, sink and root. The divers are specially trained and certified for this work.

The Following User Says Thank You to Descant For This Useful Post:
pcmc (10-12-2020)

10-05-2020, 09:52 AM	#3
webmaster Moderator Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 2,453 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 456 Thanked 3,819 Times in 839 Posts	Hopefully the effort has got more serious since I posted this in 2015: https://www.winnipesaukee.com/forums...d.php?p=251764

The Following User Says Thank You to webmaster For This Useful Post:
pcmc (10-12-2020)

10-05-2020, 10:06 AM	#4
FlyingScot Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2016 Location: Tuftonboro and Sudbury, MA Posts: 2,379 Thanks: 1,282 Thanked 1,017 Times in 627 Posts	There's an excellent milfoil effort led by DES that is working pretty much the entire season. I suppose some areas are a bit easier to attack now than in June. OTOH, those areas have had an extra 3 months to grow. Either way, the crew looks at this from a year round perspective, and they are fully aware of the pluses and minuses of various approaches

The Following User Says Thank You to FlyingScot For This Useful Post:
pcmc (10-12-2020)