Floating Peat Mat Islands

Recently a number of large peat mat “islands” have floated to the surface of Main Lake and Far West. This phenomenon has occurred sporadically in recent years and is typically most dramatic following a mild winter. During typical summers (thermocline) and winters (ice cover) aerobic bacterial decomposition of the organic matter in these peat mats ceases due to complete oxygen depletion. In this scenario gases are released faster than they accumulate and the mats stay on the bottom of the lake. During a mild winter with limited ice cover, fermentation continues and the peat mat continues to fill with gas faster than it can be released. As the summer progresses, the peat mat becomes buoyant from the trapped gas and the mat floats up to the surface.

In past years, we have been very limited in options to remove these floating mats. This season, we have been able to use the Truxor to break them up into manageable chunks and push them to shore.

Because the mats in Main Lake are a safety issue, their removal has taken priority over the removal of aquatic vegetation as had originally been planned. The mat islands in Far West are slated for removal after the Holiday weekend as they pose less of a safety risk being in a no wake lake. 

A close up of the spongy plant fibers and organic matter that make up the mats.  

The remnants of the peat mat “island” in Main Lake on the last morning of removal work.  

Dennis breaking up the mat with the Truxor

The Truxor

With well over 200 hours logged on the new Truxor machine working on Trapper Woods pond, Swan Lake, Camper Lake, and the Main Lakes, we have deeper understanding of how to best utilize it as a lake management tool. The potential applications for the Truxor are wide ranging from aquatic and terrestrial vegetation control to floating peat mat removal to even potential light dredging. However, what is limited is time and money. The endless list of work sites is more than the Truxor can address in one season. Identifying and prioritizing work sites is an ongoing effort. As we learn the machines strengths and weaknesses, we can best use it to efficiently address control needs. Some of these work sites will require annual maintenance while others will only need to be addressed occasionally over years.      

Currently we are using the Truxor on the Main Lakes to remove Wild Celery in anticipation for the Labor Day weekend. Wild Celery is a native aquatic plant that matures in the fall. It sends up a fibrous “curly-Q” shoot to the surface that easily becomes tangled in boat props. Wild Celery can be uprooted by ducks, geese, swans, muskrats and boats and can form fairly extensive mats. Herbicides are at best minimally successful at controlling Wild Celery. The Truxor will be utilized to capture and remove these mats as best possible. Small mats of vegetation may wash up on your beach. If it is a small amount, please help us out by raking it out, letting it dry, and disposing of it. If it is a large mat, please let me know where it is and I will do my best to get it collected.

Please keep your distance when observing the machine in action. With an endless list of work to tackle, we need to keep the operators engaged in the task at hand. I would be more than happy to answer any questions you might have about the machine. We still plan to use aquatic herbicides when they present the most cost effective strategy but the Truxor is providing an opportunity to control nuisance vegetation issues were herbicides can’t. Below is a mat of Wild Celery on the Main Lake that was uprooted by boats, muskrats or waterfowl. Though herbicides will do nothing to control this nuisance, the Truxor can collect and remove much of this obstruction.