Residents warned of Tuesday lake treatment
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STAFF REPORT - Published: June 15, 2009
WELLS — A private group plans to do an herbicide treatment of Eurasian water milfoil weeds in parts of Lake St. Catherine on Tuesday, bringing water use restrictions for residents on the lake.
The applicator will put liquid Renovate on exotic weeds through much of the Little Pond in Wells and Lily Pond in Poultney since the water milfoil is widespread in much of those areas, officials said.
There will be no use of the lake for any purpose on the day and for an entire day after treatment, according to a notice from the Lake St. Catherine Association.
In the spot treatments on the main lake, the group has hired an applicator to apply Renovate OTF, an on-target flake product in five or six corners of the water body, officials said. The lake group posted treatment warning signs with maps over the weekend, along the area of the lake planned for treatment, officials said.
Because the chemical can have a toxic effect on plants on land, water used from the main lake cannot be used for irrigation for up to 120 days, according to the permit.
Officials in the state Department of Environmental Conservation have restricted the Renovate flake treatment on the main lake to 1.75 to 2.25 parts per million of the chemical in the bottom part of the lake, according to the permit. The herbicide's active ingredient is triclopyr.
The herbicide may be put only on areas that have Eurasian milfoil, the permit said.
The applicator's plan to do a treatment on a weekday (and therefore earlier in the week), is intended to avoid the lake being closed to recreational use the following weekend, the permit said.
For treatments in each particular area of the lake, there shall be no use of the water for drinking or for food preparation as of the day of treatment, until the restriction is lifted, the permit said.
For domestic uses other than for food/drink, use of the water may continue the second day after treatment, the permit said. The lake group is required to provide bottled water during the time that water use restrictions are in place, the permit said.
The ban on irrigation can be lifted along the main lake shoreline, for example, when the amount of the Renovate flakes falls below a set limit, officials said. At that time, an announcement will be made that water is clear for use on land crops, officials said.
In a similar herbicide treatment done last year, the water was clear for irrigation within a time period amounting to less than the three-month maximum that the restriction could be in place, officials said.
In a public notice, the group said the lake will be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. There's no plan to shut down the state Fish & Game access on the south end of the lake in Wells during this treatment, as was done in one recent year when a previous treatment was done, officials said.
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