5.i. Staff Report- letter of support for Big Marine Lake Association
Staff Report
Date of Meeting: January 17, 2017
To: City Council
From: Neil Soltis, City Administrator
Re: Letter of support for Big Marine Lake Association grant
Background: Mike Blehert. President BMLA is again applying for an Aquatic Invasive Species
(AIS) grant from Washington County and is seeking a letter of support from the City of Scandia.
Issue: Should the City provide support to the BMLA grant request?
Proposal Details: The following information was provided by Mike regarding the 2016 program
and plans for 2017.
In 2016 the Big Marine Lake Associations (BMLA) worked to kill and reduce to acres of Eurasian
Water Milfoil (EWM) in Big Marine Lake (BML). The results for 2016 were excellent. The new
and more expensive herbicide that was used by PLM (applicator) was more effective than that
used in 2015. 19 acres were treated in 2015 and 12.5 in 2016. Of the 12.5 acres treated in
2016, 6.5 were new, but next to some of the spots treated in 2015. The other six acres treated
in 2016 were regrowth in the areas treated in 2015. So, 6.5 new acres were treated in 2016
plus the original 19 treated in 2015 adds up to a total of 25.5 acres that have been treated over
two years with the multiple herbicide treatment protocol. The Sept 20th delineation of these
areas conducted by Blue Water Science found about 2.5 acres within the 25.5 that will need
treatment in 2017. Even with the extremely long fall and extended growing season, I'm
confident that at least 85% of the 25.5 acres will be clear of EWM in 2017. There will also be
three spots totaling about five acres outside of the 25.5 that will need treatment. So, the 2017
total should be about eight acres. Our long term goal of reducing EWM to less than five acres/
year is in reach. For reference, herbicide treatment started in 2009 with 9.5 acres, spread to
40 acres in 2014 and will be about eight acres in 2017.
In 2017, the BMLA has proposed another new treatment technique for low density EWM. The
low density EWM is typically the result of fragments that float into a recently treated
area. These new plants are hard to find with a rake or by sight in 10 ft . of water and over time
can coalesce to repopulate the area. Next year, the BMLA will employ Scuba diver(s) to use a
high pressure lance that the BMLA has made to inject the root balls of new plants. This has not
been done before. I have read lab research that proves the herbicide is absorbed by both the
plant above the sediment and by the roots and that the herbicide is translocated from the roots
to the rest of the plant. But, root injection has never been applied in the field.
Options:
1. Approve a Letter of Support for the 2017 grant
2. Take no action on the request for a Letter of Support
Recommendation:
Option 1 – Approve the Letter of Support