The General Nuisance Native Aquatic Plant Herbicide Treatment will be the week of the 18th

This past weekend, surface water temps broke 80 degrees F! It’s only the first week of June and already we are seeing mid-summer water temps. Of course, classic Michigan weather prevailed and Tuesday night there was frost in White Cloud. Water temps have dropped and the risk of extreme temp algal blooms has diminished, for now. High water clarity and warm water equate to rapid aquatic plant growth. When water warms this quickly this early, Illinois Pondweed and other native plants top out at the surface and create boating, fishing, swimming, and aesthetic issues. The general contact herbicide treatment is administered to minimize this nuisance, but if it takes place to early in the year, plants will re-emerge later in the year. This year’s treatment is scheduled for the 19th and 20th (weather dependent). This treatment will be similar to last years, please refer to the 2006 maps for general locations. 2007 maps will be produced the week of the 11th but will likely not be ready to be posted until the day before the treatment. In the days following the treatment, treated plants will appear singed. The timing is intended to clear the water column just before the 4th of July. In response to the warmer temps this spring, the treatment was originally bumped up to the week of the 11th but to accommodate the annual bass tournament, the application was bumped back to the 19th. Working with the applicator, Aquatic Nuisance Control, we will do everything in our power to insure the treatment singes back emergent natives while leaving lower growing tertiary plants intact. This is critical to minimize post treatment algal blooms and to provide appropriate fishery habitat. There is always one variable out of our hands- weather. If calm, hot, and sunny conditions follow the treatment, algae will be most able to take up the released nutrients and blooms are likely. Due to water use restrictions, algaecides will not be applied during the 4th of July Holiday. Please feel free to contact us with any further questions or comments.

No Algaecide in 2006, Icreased Forage Base in 2007- Coincidence?

As a result of precision aquatic vascular plant management in combination with mild weather, no algaecides (copper sulfate) were used in any CL waterbody in 2006, with the exception of one spot treatment on Rush Lake. This not only represents financial savings, but ecological savings as well. 2006 was the first year going back through the 90's that no algaecides were used! Though copper based algaecides are very effective, they are not selective and overuse can cause serious ecological imbalance. During the 2004,2005, and 2006 seasons, macro-invertebrate surveys documented very little insect biodiversity. It was extremely rare to recover mayflies and even caddis flies. With no algaecides used in 2006, we had high hopes of what we might see in the 2007 macro-invertibrate survey. These macro-invertbrates are one of the cornerstones of a healthy ecosystem and fishery. In early May, prior to the hatch of any adult insects, we conducted our survey. We found mayflies everywhere!!! It seemed like every rock and sugmerged log we rolled over was teeming with aquatic insects. With this sudden improvement in forage base, the CL fishery should have a banner year. In the first photo above, one can see a damselfly, dragonfly, mayfly, and caddis fly larvae; as well as a small leaf worm all recovered from the underside of one submerged log. A regular bluegill buffet. The second photo is a close up of three mayfly larvae. When is the last time you saw a mayfly hatch in CL?