Attacking Water Invasives in Lake Monona

Excerpted from a Dane County press release:

Early Season Herbicide Treatment and Mechanical Harvesting to Occur in Turville Bay on Wednesday


Turville Bay, located on southwestern Lake Monona, will be the site of low-level selective herbicide application and deep cutting with aquatic plant harvesters on Wednesday April 23 beginning at 9:30 a.m.. This is part of a cooperative research project to evaluate two methods to control Eurasian water milfoil (an aquatic exotic plant) and restore native plant communities.

This project, beginning this year shortly after the ice is out from Lake Monona, involves active treatment (using low-level selective herbicides and deep cutting with aquatic harvesters) one time per year with water quality and aquatic plant analyses for three years, followed by two to three years of post treatment monitoring.

Dane County begins its regular season aquatic plant harvesting in late May every year.

Eurasian water milfoil begins growing early in the year, and creates a dense growth canopy which shades out native plant species. Eurasian Water Milfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum) - Invading Species

Sue Jones with the Dane County Office of Lakes and Watersheds said, “This project is an excellent opportunity for us to learn if early spring herbicide use and mechanical harvesting will allow us to control Eurasian water milfoil before most native plants begin their growth, and give an advantage to native plants.”

The research is being supported by a Department of Natural Resources Aquatic Invasive Species grant and by DNR staff time, with matching funds and labor provided by the Dane County Department of Land and Water Resources and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers."