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Milfoil treatment planned

KEITH KINNAIRD | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 13 years, 4 months AGO
by KEITH KINNAIRD
News Editor | September 3, 2011 9:00 PM

SANDPOINT - A contractor working for the Idaho State Department of Lands is scheduled to treat a 33-acre Eurasian milfoil infestation at Lake Pend Oreille's Ellisport Bay on Thursday.

Irrigation and drinking water restrictions will be in place in and around the treatment area until herbicide levels are within levels specified by the product's label.

Aquatechnex will be applying a liquid triclopyr-based herbicide to assail the infestation. Triclopyr is a selective, systemic herbicide that is target-specific for exotic milfoil.

The water use restrictions could remain in place for a few days or up to a week, according to Aquatechnex. ISDA will be performing water sampling to monitor herbicide levels to determine when it's safe to lift the restrictions.

Lake Pend Oreille Waterkeeper said it will also be monitoring the application procedure to ensure label requirements are adhered to.

ISDA went door-to-door with notices to advise landowners in the bay of the pending treatment. Signs will be posted on docks in the bay two days before the treatment begins, said Brad Bluemer, Bonner County's noxious weed superintendent.

Ellisport Bay is the only site in the Pend Oreille slated for treatment this season because high water flows and turbidity earlier this summer inhibited milfoil growth, said Bluemer.

"All the other areas were still 6-8 feet below the water surface, which would make control very poor or more likely to be poor," he said.

Lake Pend Oreille Waterkeeper plans to use community donations it collected for a proposed milfoil weevil research project to finance a weed-pulling project after the lake is drawn down this winter.

ISDA would not allow the project this year because Idaho's noxious weed laws prohibit extracted milfoil from being placed back into a waterway. The stocking program involved placing weevils on extracted milfoil and putting it back into the lake.

Jace Bylenga, outreach coordinator for waterkeeper, said the hand-pulling project would focus on City Beach to keep swim areas free of herbicides.

"That's what we're working towards," said Bylenga, adding that the group is working with applicable agencies to make sure the project does not inadvertently spread the noxious weed.

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