Fluridone - CAS No. 59756-60-4. Local Battles.
June 30, 2005. Houghton Lake a model in EWM fight.
By Cheryl Holladay. Houghton Lake Resorter (Michigan).
 
 
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June 30, 2005
 
The Houghton Lake Resorter (Michigan)

Houghton Lake a model in EWM fight

By Cheryl Holladay
  
How Houghton Lake leaders tackled the water’s Eurasian watermilfoil problem is becoming a model for lake communities in other sections of the United States. Advertisement

Houghton Lake Improvement Board Secretary Dick Pastula said the process of eliminating the invasive weed has been recognized by communities around the country. Chairman Jim Deamud has spoken at two national conferences and one regional conference and plans to speak at another national session in September.

The reason, Pastula said, is because Houghton Lake’s solution was dramatic, fast and effective.

“What happened at Houghton Lake is special,” Pastula said. The Houghton Lake project took just 20 months from the time the HLIB was created until the weeds were gone, he said.

Houghton Lake became a mess because “we didn’t pay attention,” Pastula said. “We’re not about to let that happen again.”

Pastula has begun presenting a review of the history of the HLIB and the current status of Houghton Lake, especially in relation to Eurasian Watermilfoil.

Pastula’s first few Powerpoint presentations were to the Houghton Lake Tourism Bureau, Lake Township officials and the Roscommon County Commissioners. Other groups he intended to address are the Environmental Protection Agency, Army Corps of Engineers and the other townships surrounding Houghton Lake.

Pastula reviewed the character of Houghton Lake and reminded his audiences that the lake covers 20,044 acres, has a maximum depth of 19 feet and has 30.5 miles of shoreline. He said EWM was the original concern of the HLIB, initially formed as an ad hoc committee known as the Houghton Lake Aquatic Plant Management Committee. Under Public Act 451 of 1994, the HLIB was formed and granted taxing authority.

The tasks of the HLIB were to determine the scope of the improvements necessary, establish a special assessment district and prepare statistical data. Pastula said all of the HLIB’s reports are available at the Roscommon Township Hall.

The HLIB received initial assistance from Sen. Carl Levin in setting up a meeting with the Army Corps of Engineers and several university scientists at a conference in September, 2002, at the MacMullan Center.

As a result of the conference, Pastula said, a management feasibility study was planned and the HLIB hired some of the presenters from the conference, including Progressive Engineering of Grand Rapids and Remetrix of Indiana. The goal was to reduce the 10,800 acres of EWM to the extent possible, Pastula said.

The geopositions of 912 plant survey sites were established on the lake and have been monitored annually. In 2001, Pastula said, “milfoil was all over the place.”

A plan was formed in 2002 to control the spread of EWM through several options. Pastula said the HLIB chose the “sequential” option, which included the use of the herbicide, fluridone.

“No Michigan firm was big enough,” Pastula said to treat the lake itself.

Professional Lake Management of Caledonia and Aquatic Control of Indiana launched six boats to treat the lake in May, 2002, by inserting (not spraying as the common misconception) six parts per billion fluridone at a one-foot depth.

Surveys were done in July and August of 2001, early August of 2003 and late August 2004. The 2004 survey found EWM in the main body of the lake, Pastula said. Already this summer surveys of the 912 points are completed.

The canals at Houghton Lake are surveyed monthly, Pastula said. Since 2003, sprigs of milfoil have been located and treated with a contact herbicide to “knock it down right away.”

Since major treatment began, he said, native plants have increased and Eurasian Watermilfoil, elodea, Richardson’s pond weed and wild celery have decreased. Curlyleaf pond weed, which became prevalent on the South Shore, is harvestable, Pastula said, and is taken care of with a harvester he dubbed “big yellow.”

Pastula said Central Michigan University conducted the original water quality tests in 2001 and 2002 and Progressive Engineering tested the water in 2003 and 2004. Volunteers periodically check survey sites marked with buoys for chlorophyl and phosphorus.

Last year weevils were reintroduced to the lake, at $1.25 per head. Pastula said each one is tied to pieces of milfoil, a process that is very labor intensive. So far, 10,000 have been placed in McKinley canal.

Plants and water quality will continue to be monitored. Reports by the HLIB are on file at the Roscommon Township hall and with the Muskegon River Watershed, and may soon be on the authority’s website www.houghton-lake.com. The HLIB also publishes a summer newsletter and distributes email updates to more than 500 people.

Other HLIB projects include creel surveys and a walleye pond, by contract with the DNR.

©The Houghton Lake Resorter 2005
  
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