EURASIAN WATER-MILFOIL
INVADES LAKE COCHITUATE
by A. Richard Miller (member and past Vice Chairman
of the Cochituate State Park Advisory Committee).
This personal Web page does not necessarily represent the
 views, opinions or recommendations of the CSPAC or DCR.
visits since 020729; last updated 091124.

Updates (immediately below)
Main article (from 2002)
Resources (links)
The Natick Conservation Commission's pre-existing Order of Conditions (issued May 2nd, 2006) denying Mass. DCR's NOI for the Control of Nuisance Aquatic Vegetation with Herbicides in Lake Cochituate.

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November 17th, 2009: POWR files its Memorandum of Law In Support Of Order Prohibiting Use of Chemical Herbicide in Lake Cochituate (including testimony by D'Amore, Horowitz, Lyman, Monosson, and Strauss).
Saturday, August 22nd, 2009: The NY Times questions another weed killer in our drinking water:
"Debating How Much Weed Killer Is Safe In Your Water Glass" (NY Times)
August 19th, 2009: POWR appeals the Mass. DEP decision.
August 18th, 2009: Natick Conservation Commission appeals the Mass. DEP decision.
August 5th, 2009: Mass. DEP's Superseding Order Of Conditions invalidates NCC's Middle Pond OOC (no DASH-boat, weakened measurement program).
June ?, 2009: Mass. DCR appeals the NCC OOC to Mass. DEP.
April 23rd, 2009: The Natick Conservation Commission issues its Order of Conditions for herbicide treatment at the north end of Lake Cochituate's Middle Pond (see below).

June 2005: At the Lake Cochituate Annual Meeting, Mike Gildesgame of Mass. DCR explained that water milfoil has been increasing in Lake Cochituate since Spring 2002. Past attempts to apply chemical treatment were blocked by an organized group of Lake abutters and others, who appear determined to stay involved. One of the milfoil-retention nets (at the south end of North Pond, except during the winter) still bars through boat traffic; CSP now also permits water-skiing on North Pond for those who live there and their friends. The 2003-2004 treatment proposals no longer apply. as legal opposition prevented early application of pesticides for weed control in Lake Cochituate (at least in its South and Middle Ponds, within Natick), and was likely to continue its opposition, DCR has withdrawn its third-year attempt to apply diquat (Reward) treatment here. Instead, DCR will prepare a new plan based on fluridone (Sonar) treatment and some alternate methods, and will bring it to a public hearing before the Natick Conservation Commission.
Although that plan was not yet available, DCR offered to provide to interested attendees online or printed copies of its/EOEA's two recent and voluminous guideline publications for aquatic weeds management. Attempts by the appellants to introduce their anti-pesticide information were not permitted by the meeting moderator. Because I believe that each side should read the other's testimony, and those of us in the middle should be able to read both, I have provided online access to both sides of this debate, here:
Mass. DCR's Lakes & Ponds program (general web site)
Mass. DCR, May 2004, "Lake Cochituate Long-Term Vegetation Management Plan" (3.3MB .pdf).
Mass. EOEA, 2004, "The Practical Guide to Lake Management in Massachusetts" (5.5MB .pdf).
Mass. EOEA, 2004, "Eutrophication and Aquatic Plant Management in Massachusetts" (15MB .pdf) and "Appendices, with revised Appendix 3"(beginning on p.30; 1MB .pdf).
M.Levin, Atty., to Toxics Action Center, June 3, 2005, "Re DCR Docket No. DEP-04-919" (0.2MB .pdf).
H.Horowitz, May 2, 2005, "Testimony of Howard Horowitz, Ph.D." (1.2MB .pdf)

On March 20, 2003, Mass. DEM awarded an initial contract for "Cochituate Weed Management" to Aquatic Control Technology.

In Fall 2002, Lake Cochituate had the dubious distinction of being a "Hot Topic" on Mass. DEM's improved Lakes and Ponds Web site.

As of June 2002, Lake Cochituate has an invasion of Eurasian Water-Milfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum). Unlike the bryozoan (Pectinatella magnifica, "Moss Animal") invasion of 1997, this one is non-native, it's dangerous and, whether we fight it or give up, it will be expensive. It will affect boating and swimming activities at Lake Cochituate for years to come.

Eurasian water-milfoil is one nasty weed. Boats and water flow can spread it far and wide. Then, in worst-case situations, it overwhelms existing plants, takes over, literally fills shallow water areas as deep as sunlight penetrates (in Lake Cochituate, about 12 feet deep), interferes with wildlife, and degrades water quality. It can grow so thick that fish can't swim there!
 

Prior to 2002, nearby lakes including Dudley Pond (in Wayland) and Lake Boone (in Hudson) experienced Eurasian Water-Milfoil problems. But although Lake Cochituate already had growths of the non-dangerous native Northern Water-Milfoil (Myriophyllum sibiricum = M. exalbescens), it had remained blessedly clear of this non-native and invasive aquatic weed. Unfortunately, in June 2002, Mass. Lakes and Ponds Program Coordinator Jim Straub first discovered a heavy infestation of Eurasian Water-Milfoil in Pegan Cove - in the southeast corner of South Pond, between U.S. Army Natick Labs (SSCOM) and Pegan Cove Park near downtown Natick. Through the hot summer it spread further. And, although we're concentrating on this worst nuisance at the moment, Jim finds two more non-native, invasive plants that will also be addressed: Variable Milfoil (Myriophyllum heterophyllum) and Curly Pondweed (Potamogeton crispus).
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Lake Cochituate is a chain of ponds, the main ones being South, Middle and North. South Pond is the only one in which water-skiing is permitted, and one of its two ski-boat slalom courses is in Pegan Cove, which also is an attractive area for bass clubs, other fishermen, canoes and kayaks. The very active boating in that shallow (and nutrient-rich) section of South Pond is likely to have brought the milfoil there, and continuing intensive boating there shreds the milfoil into 2-3" floating fragments that move with the water or on boats. Boats that repeatedly carry fragments to a different shoreline spot increase the risk at that area, too. Jim immediately proposed to quarantine Pegan Cove to control these risks. But as of late August that had not happened; no nets had been placed, and only initial steps toward weed removal from boats and trailers had begun. Fragments were floating away, and Eurasian water-milfoil was showing up in increasing amounts beyond Pegan Cove.

By late August, Jim Straub said the Pegan Cove infestation has spread too far to stop it in Pegan Cove. He says that our urgent need is to quarantine the entire South Pond, by hanging a double layer of mesh netting three feet into the water at the Route 9 boat tunnel, and then to attempt early matting and/or manual removal of the lesser amounts of milfoil that are establishing in a few coves on Middle Pond and perhaps (none identified yet) on North Pond. Middle Pond is to be quarantined from North Pond, as well, and other nets will monitor stream inputs and the outfall at Cochituate Dam.

Jim says he can handle the technical part, but it is up to others to handle the politics. Although he has the authority to place the quarantine nets, the cooperation of the boaters, abutters and town boards will be necessary. The Cochituate State Park Advisory Committee supports this immediate effort and the development of a long-range management plan by January 2003. We anticipate equally strong support from our lake's regular users. Massachusetts Commissioner of Environmental Management Peter Webber has already said, "Do what it takes!" to stop this spreading infestation. Mass. Forests & Parks Regional Supervisor Don Stoddard has made it clear that while recreational activities are very desirable here, protecting the resource will definitely come first. I have set up this personal Web page to help inform legislators, reporters, town and state agency officials and the lake user community. See the contact list below; we all solicit your ideas and support.

Expected steps, September 2002:

	Quarantine each pond with netting, to isolate the sections of Lake Cochituate before more milfoil can be shredded and transported throughout the lake or into other lakes and ponds. Other nets may be placed at additional important locations.
	Recreational boating is continuing in Pegan Cove and other heavily-infested areas.
	Improve mandatory weed-removal from boats and trailers at launching ramp.
	Ensure that all boats launching and leaving Lake Cochituate (not just at the State boat ramp) are clear of milfoil.
	Contract with an environmental consulting firm to develop a management plan for 2003.

Some 2003 options under consideration (ones already discussed with DEM):

	Isolate South Pond hot spots, by containing the floating bits of milfoil with additional mesh barriers that reach three feet down into the water. Or, alternatively, allow general spread within South Pond.
	Carefully hand-pick lightly infested coves elsewhere in Lake Cochituate. We'll need volunteers and organizers; this method has been used effectively at Dudley Pond and elsewhere.
	Use mechanized harvester or suction dredge, etc., to physically remove the weeds. Can create more fragments to spread. Expensive and long-term; more like mowing a lawn than removing it.
	Milfoil weevils, aquatic insects, have been introduce elsewhere with mixed success.
	Use a selective poison such as Sonar (tm). But South Pond is a major source of Natick's drinking water supply.
	Cover dense areas with black mats, to deprive plants of sunlight.
	Install a coffer dam to isolate Pegan Cove, then draw it down this winter to freeze and kill its milfoil - and possibly remove its nutrient-rich sediment, as well. This method has been very successful where it can be done. We are aided by a new USGS study and map, showing both the bottom surface and the depth of bottom sedimentation. On that map, you can see where a coffer dam might be placed, all at less than 10-foot depth and free of bottom sediment. An earlier filter dam was placed there for opposite reasons, back in the 1860s - when Boston drank so much Cochituate Reservoir water that Pegan Cove became a stinking mud flat near downtown Natick, until the filter dam kept it covered with water!
	Draw down the entire chain of lakes by opening Cochituate Dam and exposing shallow areas throughout. The main dam, and depth between ponds, would limit this draw-down to much less than full depth in Pegan Cove unless the drawdown were increased with pumping or siphoning. It  might be combined with a smaller coffer dam at the mouth of Pegan Cove.

Either draw-down option, or both in combination, might be a best way to avoid losing the South Pond of Lake Cochituate - and this may be the final season in which we have that option. Too expensive? What would DEM pay to acquire a South Pond, if it were lucky enough to find one for sale? Too experimental? Both were done at Lake Cochituate about four years earlier, while repairing Cochituate Dam.

How quickly can DEM evaluate these options? Would one or a combination significantly protect the rest of Lake Cochituate? Would it permit the rest of South Pond to be cleared of milfoil, or would South Pond have to remain quarantined? How should the early planning be modified to address Variable Milfoil and Curly Pondweed? Was Summer 2002's continued boating in the most sensitive areas acceptable within Precautionary Principle guidelines, or should DEM respond differently to furthur infestations? Various groups will be addressing these questions and more.

How boaters and lake abutters can help:
How can you help protect Lake Cochituate from this new but massive Eurasian Water-Milfoil infestation at Pegan Cove in South Pond, and from the already-evident spreading of this growth to other coves on Lake Cochituate? Understand the problem (read this, and perhaps the resource links below), and don't gamble with our wonderful lakes. Volunteer to help, but don't pull the weeds from the lake without proper supervision; the easily-broken-off fragments can be far more destructive than any plants you can remove.
If you're a boater, don't go near known infested areas, obey the quarantine rules (which may mean limiting your boating to one of Lake Cochituate's ponds), and clean all weed fragments off of your boat and trailer immediately after leaving any body of water. It's a new game and an unpleasant one, so don't let your guard down.

Bottom line:
This is an emergency. Decisive action this season may be our last chance. The strong interest in Lake Cochituate as a recreational resource, and an unusual separation of areas due to its physiology, provide unusual opportunities for major action.

Links (Milfoil):
          Invasive Aquatic Species (Massachusetts DEM Lakes and Ponds Program) 
          Invasive Plants Banned in MA (2006)
          Do I Have Non-Native Plants In My Lake? (taxonomy;
            Massachusetts DEM Lakes and Ponds Program)
          Eurasian Water-Milfoil (University of Florida)
          Eurasian Watermilfoil, a problem in Vermont
          Eurasian Watermilfoil (University of Minnesota)
          Eurasian Watermilfoil Management Program  (Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources)
          Eurasian Watermilfoil (U.S. Invasive Species profile)
          Eurasian Watermilfoil Bibliography/abstracts (Sea Grant Nonindigenous Species Site,
            USDA; invasivespecies.gov)
          Bibliography for Biocontrol of Eurasian Watermilfoil (University of Minnesota,
            Department of Fisheries & Wildlife)
          The Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants (University of Florida)
          Invasive Species (general, animals and plants; U.S. Federal gateway site)
          Brochure: Invasive Aquatic Plants: What Every Plant Enthusiast Needs To Know (425KB .pdf file)
          What Can I Do? (from above brochure, University of Illinois)
          Protect Your Waters and Stop Aquatic Hitchhikers! (USFWS and USCG)
          Lake Cochituate and Cochituate State Park (plus, small sketch map 
            and big MassGIS orthophoto mapping)
          Natick Drinks From Its Lake (SSCOM CERCLA data, 2001)
          Plate: South Pond bottom sediments (USGS, 2001; 2.7MB .pdf file requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)
          Dudley Pond webpage (a milfoil infestation just north of Lake Cochituate)

Links (Related Herbicides): 
          Types of Pesticides (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)
          EnviroTools (Michigan State University)
          Aquatic Herbicide Alert (Toxics Action Center and Wellesley, Massachusetts, 2002)
          Material Safety Data Sheet: Reward (Diquat Dibromide)
          Diquat Dibromide (Reward) Application Withdrawal(New York State, 2001)
          Final Risk Assessment for Diquat Bromide (Reward; State of Washington, 2002)
          Material Safety Data Sheet: Aquathol-K (Dipotassium Endothall)
          Material Safety Data Sheet: Sonar (Fluridone)
          Sonar (Fluridone) , "European Commission: Not allowed to be used as an
            active ingredient after July 25, 2003"
          Updated Eurasian Water Milfoil Management Plan for Lake George (2005),
            an apparent rejection of the Lake George Sonar Demonstration Project (2001)

Links (Alternative Methods):
          Eco-Guide International (using Little River Pond Mill) in Quebec:
            Using Little River Pond Mill:
            Control of Eurasian Watermilfoil with the usage of wind-powered aerator/mixer (1999); 
            Control of Eurasian Milfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum) using wind-powered water circulators (2005);
            Introducing the Lake Bio-Activator Process (2005)
            Eco-Guide proposal for Dudley Pond (Wayland, MA):
            PowerPoint slides for August 8th, 2006 talk (6.3MB .ppt file; try [F5] to display,
              [Downarrow] to step through slides or to step within some slides, [Esc] to exit.)
          SolarBee (general):
            Short online videos (introductory advertising)
            The Potential of Solar-Powered Water Circulators to Help Solve Serious
            Water and Energy Problems in the U.S. (2006)
         SolarBee (Eurasian water milfoil):
            Case Study for Customer Location NY66 ( in Lloyd, NY)
            SolarBee Experience in Controlling Submerged Macrophytes (updated October 2006)
         SolarBee at Lake Cochituate:
            PowerPoint slides for March 23rd, 2006 talk (4MB .pdf file)
            SolarBee Experience in Inhibiting Submerged Macrophyte Growth (updated Feb. 2010, see page 7; 2.1MB .pdf file)

Links (Invasive Species): 
          W2O slideshow, "Weeds Watch Out!; Stop Invasive Aquatic Plants" (northern NY State, 2005)
          One Hundred of the World’s Worst Invasive Alien Species, part of the Global Invasive Species Database.

Library:
          Look up Milfoil in books on Botany, Pond Life, etc.

Contact info:
          Cochituate State Park Supervisor, Tim Murphy (508/653-9641 in Natick, Mass.)
          Mass. DCR District Manager, John Dwinell (508/788-3552 in Framingham)
          Mass. DCR Regional Supervisor, Susan Hamilton (978/369-3350 in Carlisle, Mass.)
          Cochituate State Park Advisory Committee, Than Bogan (508/650-6976; e-mail when not urgent)
          Author of this Web page, Dick Miller (508/653-6136, 9am-9pm; e-mail at page bottom)
          Mass. DCR Lakes and Ponds Office, Jim Straub (617/626-1411 in Boston, Mass.)
          Mass. DCR Water Quality Office, Anne Monnelly (617/626-1395 in Boston, Mass.)