Weevil – Update
EnviroScience was back at Blue Lake checking on our weevils in mid-July . There was visual evidence of the weevils eating the Eurasion milfoil on both ends of the lake. The 2nd installment of weevils, approximately 10,000 per end, was also introduced to the lake in early July. EnviroScience gave us twice the amount of weevils this year as they had a lot left from their stocking program, for the same amount of money.
EnviroScience returned to the lake in early September and did a thorough survey of the lake for the summer. Jeff Townsend and Sue Ellen Dolan accompanied the two EnviroScience scientists and were pleasantly surprised to see the weevil hard at work. The west end appears to have a significant amount of weevil damage to the milfoil and was in much better shape than a year earlier. The east end showed some improvement ,especially in two areas where the weevil had made a visible impact. The east end having a denser population of milfoil will take at least 2 to 3 more years of eating on the milfoil to show real improvement. EnviroScience will give us a complete survey report some time in late October. BLIA will post it on it’s website www.bluelakeimprovement.org when we receive it.
Our DEQ grant from last year paid for $17,600 of our total bill in 2010 and 2011 of $26,868 for our two stockings of weevils. The balance of the bill was paid for by 2010 & 2011 $200 donations from 31 residents with three generous extra donations from Earl and Jean Ridings $2200, Bob and Kathy Stafford $1500 and Mel and Margery Rieff $700. Our reserves going ahead will be about $2000.Thank you all for your donations and we look forward to more donations from residents, as we are seeing the dollars spent, paying off with the weevils and solar bees.
Solar Bee – Update
Our three solar bees and the fourth trial solar bees are functioning well. The fourth solar bee was added to improve circulation by covering more area than the three were giving us, and reduce the probability of Blue Green algae blooms and increased clarity. It is now late September and the lake has been clearer than anytime in the last few years with no toxic algae blooms to this point in the summer. Solar bees July and early September surveys showed very good clarity and ph levels that have been very acceptable ( 7- 9ph ) and secchi levels are also very good. ( Secchi levels are measured by dropping a white secchi disc in the water and seeing how far down into the water you can see it, the algae content is usually what causes the secchi level to decrease. ) Early summer the average was at 13.5 feet and late summer has been at 13 feet. The 13 foot level of 2011 is compared to a secchi level of only 1.5 to 3 foot level of last years 2010 solar bee report, a very significant change to the better.
We have one more summer to test the fourth solar bee, to see how well it is doing to keep the lake healthy. So far so good, it will be fun to see how the lake looks next year with the fourth one in place again. A two year history will help us make our decision whether to keep it, easier to make.
Lily Pad – Update
As you might have noticed the lily pads at both ends of the lake and the north east side have blossomed and are taking over those areas. The milfoil dyeing off is part of the reason I would presume.. One weed problem getting better another fills in, scenario. At our last board meeting this problem was discussed and we are looking at a couple of ways to get rid of them. The first and least expensive would be to cut the tops off in early summer to kill the plant, the other practice would be to spray the tops with an approved herbicide and surfactant (a surfactant aids in penetrating the pads waxy top leaf structure). It was also mentioned that we could rake them out, but two of the longer time residents with experience in raking lily’s expressed that it was very hard to remove them by raking. We will continue to research this problem and try and do some test plots on the lily’s early next summer. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
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