Issues concerning Lakeville Lake fill annual meeting agenda

“The danger of getting hydrilla in the lake is a little bit frightening. All we have to do is look at Twin Lakes and see what the problem is there.” —Bill Littauer, president of the Lake Wononscopmuc Association

SALISBURY — Updates on the ongoing hydrilla threat and water quality studies, review of the adoption of a 200-foot Upland Review Area and new guidance on permitted activities were among the issues raised at the 90-minute annual meeting of the Lake Wononscopomuc Association on Saturday, June 7.

Long-time board member Mary Silks presented an update on hydrilla and water quality issues. Northeast Aquatic Research (NEAR), the association’s lake management consultant, will be conducting searches for hydrilla and a monthly rare plant survey beginning June 12, she reported.

Unlike nearby Twin Lakes, which is waging a lengthy and costly battle with the invasive weed, Lake Wononscopomuc, also known as Lakeville Lake, has not been found to harbor hydrilla, which tends to appear in a pattern starting at boat launches and leading out into lakes.

Out of an abundance of caution, the decision was made to keep Lakeville Lake’s boat launch closed for a third season to outside boaters in an attempt to keep hydrilla from infecting the 348-acre lake, the deepest natural lake in Connecticut.

“Once a month [George Knoecklein of NEAR] will go around the lake and see if he can find any hydrilla, and if they do, they will remove it from the lake and check for any roots, and then monitor it very closely through October,” Silks explained.

Water quality surveys targeting phosphorus, nitrates and oxygen levels, she said, will also be done monthly, both by volunteer association members and its limnologist at a cost of $27,574 plus $818 in equipment costs.

Littauer said so far preventative measures have been working well, “so we want to keep it going.

“The lake is closed for the launching of any outside watercraft. The danger of getting hydrilla in the lake is a little bit frightening. All we have to do is look at Twin Lakes and see what the problem is there.”

“The Army Corps of Engineers’ Dr. Ben Sperry said once you get hydrilla, you’ve got it. There is no way of getting rid of it, all you can do is manage it,” Littauer explained. Treating the lake with herbicides, he said, is the only effective management option.

He recalled the first time the use of a herbicide in Lakeville Lake was proposed back in 2002 to treat invasive milfoil. “I almost got ridden out of town on a rail.”

Silks explained that the Connecticut River variant of hydrilla, which is more robust than hydrilla found elsewhere in the country, looks very similar to Elodea, or waterweed. She suggested reporting any suspected hydrilla sightings and advised against pulling it out of the lake as it can easily release small pieces of the plant and root elsewhere.

Concern about Long Pond

Littauer expressed concern that Long Pond is at risk of becoming infected with hydrilla, as there are no monitors checking on watercraft entering that lake. “There is no way of knowing where they’ve been. That’s why we have this very strict prohibition on our lake.”

Dana Rohn, a resident of Long Pond, said there have been numerous conversations with First Selectman Curtis Rand about the threat there.

“The boat launch is closed for the year to all car-top watercraft and motor boats. We will be having the lake monitored twice this year to try to manage all the plant growth.”

Littauer said considering the threat to Lakeville Lake, he is surprised that the fisheries division of the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) “is opposed to our closure. They threatened to stop stocking this lake if fishermen can’t put their boats in the lake. Instead, they should be protecting us against hydrilla.”

He noted that “at the moment we have the right to keep the lake closed,” but expressed concern that at some point “we may have to cave to the DEEP on this.”

Heated discussion on stump grinding

In other business, a heated discussion over stump grinding stalled the association’s decision to ask the town’s Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission to increase the Upland Review Area around the lake from the current URA of 75 feet to 200 feet.

The lake association had proposed to the wetlands commission seven years ago that it be raised to 200 feet, but the commission decided to review all the regulations instead.

Littauer said he will call a special meeting to discuss the issue with a representative of the Inland Wetlands commission to answer questions raised during the meeting.

Members appeared satisfied with the guidelines provided by the commission on what activities will be allowed under the Upland Review Area, but objections were raised over the issue of stump grinding.

Jeffrey Small said he had a dead tree in the middle of a garden and asked why he would have to go through a bureaucratic process to get rid of a stump. He called it government overreach.

Dean Haubrich pointed to the long and expensive process he went through to get permission to repair a culvert that, he said, would be a benefit to the lake.

Faith Hochberg said that often when rules are put in place they create problems years later.

Jim Morrill noted that his house is flat by Route 41, but his property has a steep slope down to the lake. Removing stumps on the slope, he said, would allow soil to erode and slide into the lake.

The discussion turned heated, and Tino Galluzzo proposed tabling the issue until a special meeting could be called to deal with the question. That motion carried without opposition.

Littauer’s last term as president

In other business, the association presented its 2025/2026 slate of officers. Bill Littauer was appointed to his 25th year as president of the association, after which he said he plans to step down from his long-held role.

Arthur Strang thanked Littauer for his service to the lake organization, a role he has held since 2001, and congratulated him on his planned retirement at the end of this term.

Other officers appointed at the annual meeting include Augustino Galluzzo, vice president, Arthur Strang, treasurer and Bently Beich, secretary.