Eradication crews hold off on naiad work after plants found too small to pull

Cliff Cabral of New England Milfoil stands on the bow of his company boat with lake surveyor Dennis Roberge, blue shirt, and John McPhedran of Maine DEP, behind him as they leave Everetts Cove on Monday morning. (Rochester Voice photos)

LEBANON - A Maine Department of Environmental Protection invasive plant expert and Milton Three Pond surveyor led a tour on Monday to assess the growth of an aquatic weed divers hope to manually pull from the lakebed this month, but postponed the work for a week because the weed can be more efficiently pulled when it's somewhat larger.

Upon returning from the tour John McPhedran of the DEP Invasive Aquatic Species Program said the European Naiad was neither "tall enough nor sufficiently widespread to warrant start of manual removal by New England Milfoil today."

New England Milfoil has been contracted by the state of Maine to do four days of naiad eradication using suction equipment as well as manually pulling the nuisance weed from MTP where it has gained a substantial foothold since first being identified by lake surveyor Dennis Roberge of Shapleigh two years ago.

"We'll come back and have another try at it next Monday," said Cliff Cabral of New England Milfoil, an aquatic weed removal company based in Brownfield, Maine.

John McPhedran of Maine DEP points out the European Naiad's identifiable serrated edges that help distinguish it from the native naiad to Steve Baker of the MTPPA.

The crew on board Cabral's boat on Monday included McPhedran, Roberge, and two divers from New England Milfoil.

Steve Baker of the Three Ponds Protective Association was also on hand at Everetts Cove in his kayak and followed along for the tour.

Areas checked on Monday included an area of Depot Pond just south of the channel and along the Milton shore of Northeast Pond.

Growth will be assessed again at the end of this week and/or Monday to determine when manual removal will start, McPhedran said.

Prior to casting off McPhedran gave divers and others information about the invasive weed after spotting some right next to the southermmost dock at Everetts Cove Marina where it was still in its early stages of growth but plentiful.

Cabral said it was a tough weed to find and displace as it is a shallow-rooted plant.

His company now does mitigation for both milfoil and European Naiad.

McPhedran said while some of the plants are currently too small to effectively pull, the large infestation in an area of Northeast Pond where an herbicide is to be used later this month contains copious plants and will go on as planned. That herbicide application is scheduled for July 26 barring any heavy rains preceding the target date.

The European Naiad, not to be confused with a native Naiad, is a serious threat to the MTP's fish and native aquatic plant population, experts agree. It also has the potential to cripple the lake's recreational worth, plummeting lakefront property values while threatening the lake's delicate ecosystem.