Managing Weeds

Healthy, native aquatic plants are important to all lakes. They provide oxygen, habitat and food for fish, turtles, frogs and birds.

However, Eurasian milfoil is an invasive, aggressively spreading plant that is found in 25% to 30% of RBL’s sampling sites. It grows rapidly, forms dense mats on the surface that block sunlight, kills native plants, disrupts the lake’s ecological balance, and interferes with recreational use.

To address this issue, The Fund for RBL holds educational and discussion sessions in conjunction with the RBL Property Owners Association and the Town about different ways to control invasive aquatic plants.

Our first in this series occurred on January 25th, when the Fund for RBL invited three members of the board of Kent’s China Barrett Homeowners Association  to join us for a zoom conversation about their decision to apply the herbicide ProcellaCOR to China Pond.

They described a process of extensive consultation with their lake manager, A.J. Reyes (who is also RBL’s) and their community before deciding to move forward. Their community faced such a severe infestation of Eurasian milfoil that they were spending $40,000 a year to have the weeds pulled, only to see the weeds return the next season.

After studying research about the potential effects of the herbicide, they concluded that it would have no discernible impact on wildlife, fish, birds, or the quality of the water. The process of applying ProcellaCOR took just two days. Residents were told not to swim for one day following the application.

Now, three years later, they have not had to reapply the herbicide, though they are still pulling a small amount of Eurasian milfoil where it reappears. They have seen a slight increase in other weeds, such as pondweed, though they are not sure their use of ProcellaCOR is responsible. They noted that their decision to utilize ProcellaCOR was not isolated; at about the same time, they put in place a more aggressive process of septic pumping compliance and also developed plans for addressing stormwater runoff from their golf course.

To listen to the meeting, please click here. (Note: the audio was briefly interrupted towards the end of the recording, but there is a second recording that completes the conversation and that can be accessed here.