07/01/08 Eurasian water milfoil eradication

Eurasian water milfoil is one of six aquatic noxious weeds found in Idaho. Roger Batt of the Idaho Weed Awareness campaign says about seven thousand acres of the milfoil were known to exist in the state a couple of years ago. BATT "Since that time about 50 percent has been treated through dive teams and through herbicide treatments and also using what's called the bottom barrier treatment where they put black plastic along the bottom the pond or the lake and it kills the vegetation." Eurasian water milfoil can be spread from one body of water to another quite easily. BATT "In fact Eurasian water milfoil produces by a process called fragmentation where a small tiny piece of the plant about the size of a small postage stamp breaks off and can float around or can go downstream, down river and start a whole new infestation Eurasian water milfoil. If you're recreating in the water please remember to clean your boats, trailers, watercraft, pump your bilge. This aquatic weed creates high ph in the water, takes out the oxygen and kills fish and other vegetation. In the last seven years more than 70 tons of Eurasian water milfoil has been taken from Payette Lake in McCall. Now divers only go out two weeks per year compared to eight or nine weeks of work in the past. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott