What are we thinking about for Heart Lake?
Increasing the recreational possibilities for Heart Lake is a big part of our plan. We hope to have a lake that is even better for fishing and boating in the future.
The problem we face is an aquatic plant (Eurasian Milfoil) which has made use of the lake very difficult.
A committee of ten assorted citizens has been meeting with City Parks & Recreation staff to figure out what to do and how best to approach the underwater weed control problem at Heart Lake. They have researched these possibilities:
1. dredge the lake to make it deep enough so the milfoil will not grow
2. remove the milfoil by hand
3. use grass-eating carp to eat the vegetation
4. hire divers to suction the weed out of the lake
5. spray the milfoil with an herbicide
6. empty the lake of water to kill the milfoil.
As you might imagine, the costs of each of these solutions varies widely, the duration of the solution is not always known ahead of time and every solution has some side effect that one would rather avoid. It is not a simple problem with a simple solution.
One of the many complicating factors is that milfoil can be spread from lake to lake on boat bottoms and boat trailers. So we would like to act in concert with the folks who are trying hard to keep the weed under control in the other lakes on our island.
The Parks and Recreation Department has a grant from the State Department of Ecology to create a plan of action. This plan was created by a group of volunteers and City staff and was brought to the City Council for review.
The City Council approved the plan at their June 18th meeting.
You may also like to read more information on managing milfoil at the Deptarment of Ecology's web site: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wq/plants/management/index.html
Milfoil Plan
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
Appendix 3
For more information about the meeting or with any other questions, please contact Anacortes Parks and Recreation at 360-299-1953. Thank you. |
