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Thursday, Center Lake and Center Lake channels will be chemically treated to remove Eurasian Watermilfoil.
The lake will be treated with Sonar. There will be a one-day restriction on swimming.
Residents who draw water from the lake for landscape plants and lawns will have a no-watering restriction in place for two weeks.
The channels will be treated with 2,4-D which means a no-watering restriction for 21 days. Signs will be posted on each property, along the shoreline, with treatment and restrictions on each property the day of the application(s).
A second application will be applied to the lake and the no-watering restriction will be in effect again.
Renovate 3 (Sonar) and 2,4-D affect only broadleaf plants. Since Eurasian Watermilfoil is a broadleaf and most other submerged aquatic plants are monocots, these products are selective for Eurasian Watermilfoil if used at the proper dosage.
Weed Patrol Inc. has been contracted by the Center Lake Conservation Association to conduct a lakewide plant census and prepare a muliti-year lake vegetation management plan. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources Soil and Water Conservation Division as part of the Lake and River Enhancement Program provides funding for this work through an approved grant.
Eurasian Watermilfoil has again become a dominant, invasive species in Center Lake. Curlyleaf Pondweed also is present in the spring. Both mat the lake surface and decrease recreational values. Both plants threaten native lake plants.
Nuisance plants are defined as those that interfere with lake use, aesthetic values or are harmful to desired vegetation. Only exotic (non-native) plant treatments are eligible for LARE funding.
Grandular 2,4-D will be used to treat the channels because liquid products, including Sonar and Renovate 3, are subject to waterflow. The liquid products could be pushed out of the inlet channel into the lake, resulting in ineffective control of the Eurasian Watermilfoil in the channels.
Products used for control of aquatic plants must have a short presence in the environment and not affect non-target species to be approved by the Environmental Protection Agency for aquatic use.
The goal in management of both exotic species is to design the treatment so only the target plants are controlled. Due to its method of propagation and rapid growth rate, all of the Eurasian Watermilfoil must be treated at the same time to achieve full control.
The goal of management of Curlyleaf Pondweed is to halt all the target plants in the lake early each season.
Management of both species can be achieved with herbicide application.
For more information call Bill Hilliard, Center Lake Conservation Association president, 574-267-5802.
