Think it is difficult to get the weeds out of your garden? Try weeding the bottom of Skaneateles Lake. Divers this summer are in the last year of a four-year project to rid the lake of invasive milfoil weeds. They pull up the weed by hand from the lake bottom. In places where divers cannot pull the weeds, mats...
Morgan Foster (left), and Meghan Davison change bags after they have been filled with milfoil on Skaneateles Lake. Think it is difficult to get the weeds out of your garden? Try weeding the bottom of Skaneateles Lake.
Divers this summer are in the last year of a four-year project to rid the lake of invasive milfoil weeds. They pull up the weed by hand from the lake bottom. In places where divers cannot pull the weeds, mats are being used to stifle growth.
Robert Werner, treasurer of the Tri-County Skaneateles Lake Pure Water Association that’s overseeing the project, said crews are focusing on the last four to five acres of lake bottom affected by the weed. The work should be done this season.
Werner said mats have been placed offshore from Shotwell Park in the village of Skaneateles, Skaneateles Country Club and an area north of Mandana. Crews are pulling weeds along a mile stretch of the lake bottom along the southeast shore and a three-mile stretch along the southwest shore.
The project will cost about $1.3 million, with most of the money coming from private donations.
“We’re closing in on getting all we need,” Werner said. “We probably need $40,000 to $50,000 more.”
This is what milfoil looks like. The invasive species inhabiting portions of Skaneateles Lake is removed from the lake's floor by hand, as to not disrupt the underwater ecosystem, or by placing a mat on the weeds to stifle growth.Now that the eradication project is drawing to a close, he said, the association will
talk with municipalities that benefit from the lake about how to pay for a future maintenance program to monitor weeds in the lake.
Skaneateles Lake provides unfiltered drinking water for Syracuse, Jordan, Elbridge and Skaneateles, and the lake lies in parts of three counties (Onondaga, Cayuga and Cortland) and five towns (Skaneateles, Spafford Scott, Sempronius and Niles).
“It seems to me they ought to be willing to contribute,” he said.
A monitoring program could cost as much as $160,000 annually for two boats, each with a five-member crew, Werner said. The exact cost would be determined by how quickly the weed grows. Historically, milfoil has grown slowly in the lake.
He said the association already has started the discussion with Syracuse officials.
The eradication project began as a pilot program in 2006. Milfoil was found in about 30 acres, and beginning 2007, boats and diving crews began harvesting the weed by hand.
Eurasian watermilfoil
What is it? It’s a long, slender weed that grows in water at depths of 8 to 15 feet. It’s non-native to Skaneateles Lake and has no natural enemies in the lake, so it’s spreading quickly.
How widespread was it? In 2008, the infestation was estimated at 30 acres; divers later found another 10 acres.
How is it removed? Divers pull the weeds from the roots out of the lake bottom and feed them into a suction hose that carries them to a boat, where they’re bagged and used for compost. The weeds are pulled by hand because suction dredging would disrupt the lake bottom’s ecosystem.
How can I donate? Tax-deductible donations can be made to “Tri-County Skaneateles Lake Association” and mailed to Skaneateles Milfoil, Box 862, Skaneateles, N.Y. 13152. Go to www.skanmilfoil.com for more information.
Source: Skaneateles Lake Milfoil Eradication Project
--Contact John Stith at jstith@syracuse.com or at 251-5718.