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Portage Lake was treated for eurasian watermilfoil (ewm) on
September 15th 2009 and for phragmites australis on September 25th,
2009. In a little over a year, the Onekama Community passed an
Invasive Species Resolution, a Phragmites Ordinance, formed a
Special Assessment District and applied for and received a small
grant. A 5 year management plan was developed for treating
invasives and protecting our environment. Surveys of invasives and
baseline water quality monitoring data for the lake, streams and
storm drains were collected in preparation for these
treatments.
162 acres of ewm were treated by Professional Lake Management
and 83 acres of phragmites were treated by Aquatic Services Inc.
The lake will be resurveyed this spring to determine the success of
the treatments. Eurasian water milfoil will be treated in the
spring with follow up treatments as necessary during the summer.
Phragmites will be treated in the fall. The treatment dates will be
determined after these surveys are done and property owners will be
notified as soon as dates are confirmed.
The success of the phragmites treatment is difficult to
determine at this time as they naturally die back in the fall. We
will not know the effectiveness of the treatment until we see the
amount of new growth this summer. Based on Aquatic Services'
recommendation, it may not be necessary to cut the dead phragmites
as the treated stands will be naturally overcome by new native
growth. However, in order to help the regrowth of our native
plants, we would recommend that you cut the dead phragmites and
dispose of properly. We will monitor for new growth
throughout the spring and summer and plan to treat the same areas
again this fall.
A demonstration project behind Farr Center was done in Fall 2008
to spray and subsequently burn a large stand of phragmites. It
showed we can pretty much wipe out phragmites if we have a
sustained program. We need to keep this up if we don't want our
lake taken over by these invasive reeds. See the video above for
what is being done at Beaver Island, Michigan.
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The invasive species committee recently addressed questions on
how the aquatic herbicide treatments
might affect the Portage Lake Fishery.
Newsletters
Timelines
Safety
Resolutions & Ordinances
- On file in the Township Office
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