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Here is an interesting article about Lake Ponemah and Weed Control.

Despite residents' efforts, lake invaders prove hard to kill

BY EMILIA ASKARI • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER • March 20, 2009

Starry Stonewort is an invasive aquatic weed to be reckoned with, lake experts say

People around lakes infested with it are spending tens of thousands of dollars a year trying to harvest it and treat it with copper-based algacides to stop its spread. So far, it has creeped into 21 inland lakes in the state, including 12 in Oakland County alone. And experts fear it could get much worse.

Judy Hensler, a retired real estate agent and Springfield Township trustee, lives on Dixie Lake, which is being clogged with Starry Stonewort.

"When the weed harvesters cut it, it comes up like a roll of sod," she said. "It's thick, not like Brillo pad, but like those plastic scrubbers that are like netting. It seems to be thriving. We haven't figured out how we're going to get rid of it, or if we are."

The two species

Starry Stonewart is one of two invasive aquatic plants that have turned up in southeast Michigan's lakes in the past few years. The other is Fanwort, which has hit three lakes in Oakland County.

Doug Pullman of Flint-based Aquest Corp., one of the state's largest lake management firms, said he believes that Starry Stonewort has the potential to be even more troublesome than the most infamous nonnative water weed in Michigan history: Eurasian water milfoil, which spread throughout most of the state's thousands of inland lakes in the 1980s.

"I think Starry Stonewort will be worse," Pullman said. "From an ecological perspective, it is so invasive. ... Its impact on the fisheries will be huge."

Matt Preisser of the state Department of Environmental Quality said: "Early indications are that this Starry Stonewort might be pretty bad."

Starry Stonewort looks like a beneficial native lake plant, Chara. But Starry Stonewort grows more thickly, blanketing lake bottoms and preventing panfish such as bluegill and sunfish from finding enough sandy bottom to spawn.

Arrival in Michigan

Like so many other invasive water species, it is believed to have hitched a ride to the Great Lakes from Europe in a ship's ballast water.

Although there is one report of Starry Stonewort in Lake St. Clair in the 1970s, only in the past three or so years have large amounts of it started turning up in area lakes.

Fanwort first turned up years ago in lakes around the southwest part of the state and has only recently begun to spread. A native of the Carolinas, it's believed to have made its way into some lakes near Kalamazoo more than a decade ago when someone emptied an aquarium there.

"It grows to the surface and causes problems for fishing and boating," said Paul Hausler, an aquatic biologist with Grand Rapids-based Progressive AE, another lake management company. "There's not a whole lot you can do about it. ... By harvesting it, you can spread it around."

Upper Sherwood Lake in Commerce Township has the most severe Fanwort infestation in the southeast part of the state, Pullman said.

There are some herbicides known to kill Fanwort, but they are not currently approved for use in Michigan.

Experts are urging boaters on infected lakes to be particularly vigilant about thoroughly washing their hulls and motors before moving their boats to other lakes.

As troublesome as Starry Stonewort and Fanwort may be, what really scares lake experts across the state is another aquatic weed, Hydrilla.

Currently, it's found in one Indiana lake about 50 miles south of the Michigan line.

It's known as a superweed that could make all the others "look like pansies," according to Pullman.

Contact EMILIA ASKARI at easkari@freepress.com.

 

Zebra mussels to cost Lake Ponemah residents

Posted by By Bernie Hillman | The Fenton Press September 19, 2007 15:09PM

FENTON TWP. -- The infestation of zebra mussels is making Lake Ponemah clearer, but it's also making aquatic weeds grow faster and thicker, which is going to cost lake residents.
 

The clearer water is allowing more sunlight to get to those boat-motor-choking weeds and helping them grow. There's also more kinds of plants, so coming up with the right combination of treatment and timing to stem the tide is also more costly.

"We started with four species of vegetation now there's over a dozen," said Derek Brookshire, with Aquatic Nuisance Pest Control of Swartz Creek.

Brookshire submitted his five-year weed and plant management plan at a the Fenton Township Board's special assessment hearing on Monday. The plan will cost lake residents $346,105 or $69,221 a year from 2008-2011.

Last year lake residents paid $131 each, but this year that will climb to $189 and then $186 for the remaining four years. Township operations manager Tom Broecker said those who live off shore but have a property easement to the lake are assessed one-fourth the amount.

Fred Tryles said he doesn't mind paying for treatment but wants applications specifically between the docks in his neighborhood. He handed Brookshire a plastic bag packed with the bright green native plant that's become a nuisance, Naiad.
"It is thick out there," Tryles said.

Carolyn Post, who lives on the north end of the lake, said winds push weeds her way. They choke boat motors and she spends time and energy pulling weeds with a pitchfork.

"It's a lot of work," Post said. "Any chance decaying weeds provide extra fertilizer?"
Brookshire said there's more plant growth because of the water clarity.
"Lake Fenton is the same way," he said.

Brookshire said his company treats most of the lakes in Fenton Township and several variables have made his job more difficult in recent years, such as the warmer spring weather and mussel infestation.

"All lakes need a good balance of vegetation," he said.

Township Supervisor Bonnie Mathis asked if there was a treatment to get rid of zebra mussels. Brookshire said yes, Endothall, with a chemical caveat.

"It will kill at a higher rate and could kill fish at the same time," he said.

The infestation of mussels ebb and flow from year to year.

"Some years they are more dominate than others," Brookshire said.

Resident Ted Goupil wanted to know how the $189 was calculated.

"It's based on acreage and cost of product, " Brookshire said.

He said some plants are becoming immune to some treatments.

"They are constantly coming out with new products," he said. But they don't come with a guarantee, he said.

"I guess if you weren't doing it, we wouldn't have a lake," Joe Ceresia said.

"I've seen some difference. You've done a good job to me," he said.

Township Clerk Bob Krug recommended the board get out of weed control management and vote down the special assessment. He suggested the lake association could see that weed control gets done.

Guy Dzido, president of the 350-member association, said that idea wouldn't fly.
"Without an assessment there would be no weed control," Dzido said. "No way can we go door to door to collect," he said.

The board approved the assessment roll.

 

 

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Last modified: 08/02/11 10:19 AM -0400