The Municipality of Otter Lake has closed Johnston’s public boat launch on Farm Lake to prevent the spread of Eurasian water milfoil.
The freshwater plant is an invasive species that grows to the surface of the water during the spring and summer, and dies out in the winter, at which point its decomposition consumes oxygen in the water, a process which can be harmful to aquatic life.
In an effort to reduce the spread of this plant, the municipality has also installed buoys to keep boaters away from the affected areas on Farm Lake.
Otter Lake mayor Terry Lafleur said he hopes this will prevent boat propellers from chopping up the invasive species into smaller pieces that could then be dispersed through the lake and reroot themselves, worsening the spread.
Otter Lake’s director general Andrea Lafleur said it is important the municipality finds a way to control the spread of the invasive species.
“I don’t know that we’re ever going to get rid of the problem, but we’re going to do our best to control the spread, because our lakes are very important. In Otter Lake, we thrive on tourism and a lot of our people come back to live on the lake, and we just want to keep them healthy,” she said.
“We’re having a characterization done of the lake in the month of . . .
August, and then we’re going to be seeking funding to try to mitigate that area as much as we can, because it’s the worst area on the lake.”
Mayor Lafleur said the municipality has discussed potential solutions to combating the milfoil, including placing a tarp over the water, suffocating the invasive plants, as well as hiring divers to manually remove the plants from the lake.
The Eurasian milfoil was first discovered on Farm Lake and Little Cayamant Lake last year. Mayor Lafleur said the municipality is currently waiting for a biologist to investigate whether it has spread to neighbouring Clarke Lake, Leslie Lake, Otter Lake, Hughes Lake, Little Hughes Lake and McCuaig Lake.
Mayor Lafleur explained milfoil grows up from the bottom of a lake in the spring until it reaches the water’s surface, and then falling back to the bottom of the lake in the winter.
Due to this seasonal cycle, Mayor Lafleur expects the boat launch to reopen next spring, but explained the launch will close once the milfoil nears the surface of the water again.
Residents wishing to remove a boat from Farm Lake can call the municipality at 819-453-7049 to schedule a time to do so.
