Smaller lake fight milfoil, too; ‘we’re on it like a dog on a bone’

By Gordon Woodworth, Chronicle News Editor

Cossayuna, Glen, Brant & Schroon updates

Milfoil is a region-wide problem. Eradication efforts continue in many local lakes. The Chronicle reached officials at four of them.

On Cossayuna Lake in the Washington County Towns of Argyle and Greenwich, “it’s a continuous battle with milfoil,” says Sheila Rappazzo, the herbicide chair of the Cossayuna Lake Improvement Association.

“We have made tremendous progress, but there’s always more to do. A big issue is fund-raising. We don’t have a lake district, so we have no revenue stream. We have to raise the money ourselves. It’s a constant battle.”

Mrs. Rappazzo said the 664-acre lake was treated with a new chemical, ProcellaCOR, in May, “when the milfoil is just starting to grow, but big enough to identify.

“We treat only for milfoil. We also have curlyleaf pondweed, which we just harvest by hand. We do have a harvester that we use around docks, but more for native weeds than invasives.”

She said 50 acres were treated for milfoil, 40 acres in the shallow south end of the lake, and another 10 acres in three or four other spots.

“We’re trying,” she said. “It’s much, much better than it was several years ago. Seven years ago, it was everywhere on the lake. It’s a constant battle because the milfoil keeps coming back.”

On Glen Lake in Queensbury, Paul McPhillips, president of the Glen Lake Protective Association, says, “You never defeat milfoil. You mitigate it and maintain it. It’s a continuing and ongoing struggle.”

He said they treated about 16 acres of the lake with a chemical approved by the state Department of Environmental Conservation. “We work very closely with DEC, and we have for years,” he said. “We think our efforts are going pretty well.”

He noted the lake is 320 acres, and only 16 acres are treated by the association’s environmental consultant Solitude.

“The chemical doesn’t affect other native plants or fish,” he said. “And we do diver-assisted suction harvesting with Aqualogic, which DEC encourages us to do. That’s happening right now.”

On Schroon Lake, which straddles Essex and Warren Counties, association president Mark Granger says, “This year we are definitely seeing less milfoil. You’ve got to be vigilant.”

He said, “We are very fortunate that 26 years ago our lake manager Steve LaMere discovered milfoil, knew how dangerous it was, and brought it to the attention of the towns. After years and years of work, we are now in maintenance mode.

“We’re lucky that it’s a pretty deep lake, but we’re on this like a dog on a bone. We’re also water testing for nutrients, and have been monitoring the lake for 26 years, with much of the credit going to Roger Friedman for that.”

He said the Schroon Lake Association, the East Shore Schroon Lake Association and the Paradox Lake Association share the cost of hand-harvesting with the towns of Horicon, Schroon Lake and Chester.

“We also are constantly scouting for milfoil, and we’re now doing a bottom-mapping project to see the density of the materials on the bottom.

“We’re finding milfoil in the middle of the lake, places where the bottom just rises and creates these little hills on the bottom. We have divers checking those areas.”

There are also stewards at boat launches, looking for invasives and rerouting boat owners to boat-washing stations in Horicon or Severance.

Mr. Granger said Schroon Lake, at 4,105 acres, “is really a widened river, and it changes water two or three times a year. So we have not had to use chemicals but we’ve spent a lot of money to be in that position.”

He said the bottom-mapping project will be a topic at the Schroon Lake Association’s annual meeting Friday, Aug. 16, at 7 p.m., at Schroon Lake High School.

On Brant Lake in the Warren County Tow of Horicon, “We’re in a similar situation as they are in Lake George. We’re fighting it every year,” said Tom Wynne, who chairs the invasives committee for the Brant Lake Association.

“We’re spending a considerable amount of money,” he said. “Between the Brant Lake Association and the Town, we’re spending $50,000 a year on diver-assisted suction harvesting with Aqualogic. Very, very few companies locally do that kind of work, and that’s part of the problem.”

He said they contract for seven harvest weeks per summer. They did two in June, and Aqualogic crews return July 31.

“Milfoil is in many places in the lake, but it’s not everywhere,” Mr. Wynne said. “There are probably 50 places on the lake that are repeat offenders.”

He said inspection stewards monitor the public boat launch and if they find issues, refer the boat’s owner to boat-washing stations near Loon Lake or Schroon Lake.

He said they have boat-washing equipment and are looking for a proper site to set it up on Brant Lake. “It’s critical we get the boat-washing station operational,” he said. “Milfoil is one thing, but there are many other threats, as you know.”

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