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August 11, 2005. Poison those lake weeds? County urged to do study.
By Bill Novak. The Capital Times. (Wisconsin
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August 11, 2005

The Capital Times (Wisconsin)

Poison those lake weeds?

County urged to do study

By Bill Novak

Two Dane County Board supervisors want the county to study using herbicides to rid the Yahara chain of lakes of invasive exotic weeds that have choked the lakes for years.

Supervisors Eileen Bruskewitz of Waunakee and Dennis O'Loughlin of DeForest have introduced a resolution to establish an aquatic herbicide study committee, to look into the feasibility of large-scale herbicide treatments on Lakes Mendota, Monona, Waubesa and Kegonsa.

"The people who use the lakes, who live on the lakes, are having a difficult time," Bruskewitz said. "There's been a lot of talk about these issues but not a lot of leadership on examining herbicide treatment to see if it could work on Dane County's lakes."

Lake residents have been petitioning the state Department of Natural Resources to consider using the herbicide fluridone on Madison's lakes to control Eurasian milfoil and other weeds and algae, after it was shown to be fairly successful at controlling weeds on a large lake in Michigan.

Fluridone use on several Wisconsin lakes has resulted in mixed results, with milfoil growing back a couple of years after treatments with the herbicide, according to DNR research scientist Jennifer Hauxwell.

Bruskewitz and O'Loughlin aren't specifically asking for fluridone to be applied to the lakes, but want a committee to look at a variety of ways to clean up the lakes as well as looking at methods tried in the past or in other areas that might help stem the tide of the invasive exotic weeds clogging the shorelines, swimming areas, fishing spots and boat channels.

The county has weed-cutting barges working all summer to keep strategic areas cleared of weeds, and riparian (shoreline) property owners can contract through the DNR to have herbicides applied on the water in front of their own property, but more needs to be done to gain the upper hand in the battle, O'Loughlin said.

"The weed cutters aren't cutting it," O'Loughlin said. "The lakefront homeowners, the boaters and the swimmers deserve to have clean lakes."

County watershed management coordinator Sue Jones said the Lakes and Watershed Committee will be discussing fluridone at its Aug. 18 meeting as part of the committee's overall discussion on how to deal with the lake weeds, to see what monies should be included in the 2006 budget.

"We've applied for three DNR grants to upgrade our aquatic plant harvesting plan," Jones said. "This discussion on fluridone will fit well in our grant applications."

County officials are pushing for long-range solutions to the weed problem, including cutting down on the amount of nutrients flowing into the lakes to slow plant growth, but long-range solutions don't help property owners who want to see something done now, Bruskewitz said.

"If people can't use their waterfronts because of the weeds, maybe they should see their property assessments go down," she added.

Lake Waubesa resident David Doll could hardly stand the smell Tuesday after county weed cutters came through and cut the weeds in front of his lakefront home.

He said the weed cutters do a good job, cutting the weeds one day and collecting them the next, but this time it was different, because dozens of dead panfish were scattered throughout the weed mass.

"When I came home and saw the shoreline I was disgusted," Doll said in an email to County Board supervisors and DNR officials, including pictures of the dead fish entangled in the weeds.

"If I took a bucket of this stuff and put it in your backyard I'd be arrested," Doll said.

DNR Lake Management Coordinator Susan Graham said the weed cutting didn't have anything to do with the fish kill, but she couldn't explain how the fish kill happened.

Doll's experience drives home the frustrations shown by lake residents.

"When we had flooding a couple of years ago on Lake Monona, the lake water couldn't move down to Lake Kegonsa because of the weeds," Bruskewitz said.

O'Loughlin wants to see all parties involved in improving the quality of the Yahara lakes included on the aquatic herbicide study committee, including the University of Wisconsin, Dane County, the DNR and local communities.

"The lakes have a long-range future impact on all of our communities and if we don't clean them up it could affect property valuation in the cities, villages and towns," O'Loughlin said.

Bruskewitz said setting up an aquatic herbicide study committee might also show that fluridone won't work on the Madison lakes, but she said something has to be done to demonstrate to lake property owners efforts are being made to reclaim the area's best natural resources.

"I know of someone who lives on Lake Kegonsa who said you could almost walk across the water of the lake because the weeds were so thick," she said.
 
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