Twin Lakes group continues battle against invasive hydrilla despite delay in federal funding

The Hydrilla Menace

Twin Lakes group continues battle against invasive hydrilla despite delay in federal funding

David Mathus, left, launched his boat into East Twin Lake from O’Hara’s Landing Marina on Sunday, June 22, with assistance from marina service manager Colin Brooks.

Debra A. Aleksinas

SALISBURY — A lack of federal funding has caused the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to scale back efforts to combat a highly invasive strain of hydrilla in the Connecticut River this summer, prompting Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D) to request $5.5 million from Congress so that a field eradication and management project started last year can continue.

The budget standstill aside, in Salisbury the Twin Lakes Association (TLA) is proceeding full speed ahead in its battle against hydrilla. Two years ago, East Twin became the first lake outside of the Connecticut River to identify the virulent strain in its waters. Since then, 10 additional waterbodies have been found to harbor the worrisome weed.

Armed with a $500,000 lake management budget for 2025 and a permit for herbicide treatment from the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEEP), the lake association is launching a sustained attack on hydrilla throughout summer into early fall.

Lake management costs have risen exponentially since hydrilla’s arrival. In 2022, the TLA budgeted about $60,000 to manage the Twin Lakes, of which the town of Salisbury contributed roughly $40,000.

Referring to this year’s estimated $500,000 in expenses for herbicide applications and aquatic plant monitoring, “We don’t see this going down,” said TLA President Grant Bogle of costly battle.

Fundraising efforts have proven fruitful, with association members responding generously. Eight large donors have given $10,000 or more. In all, 82 members donated at least $1,000 each, totaling $350,000 since last August.

Filling the budget gaps were contributions from the state and town, each contributing $75,000, and a $25,000 grant was received from the Bates Foundation.

And while the state has been generous with grants, that source cannot be guaranteed and, therefore, fundraising is crucial, Bogle noted. “We have to take control here. If it happens great, but we’re not planning on it.”

Plant surveys, herbicide treatments underway

The lake association sprang into action once the Connecticut River variant of hydrilla was identified the waters around O’Hara’s Landing Marina by forming a coalition of local, state and federal scientific and environmental advisors.

TLA board member Russ Conklin, who has since been appointed vice president of lake management, recently gave an update to the association’s annual membership meeting on June 14 at Isola Bella, which drew 62 attendees.

He explained that George Knoecklein of Northeast Aquatic Research, the TLA’s limnologist, will be conducting four major plant surveys this year. They started in June and will continue throughout the summer.

“The first three are to determine where the various species are and to confirm that we’ve gotten all the hydrilla locations that we think are contained to the East Bay,” said Conklin, who noted that the whole-lake surveys typically take place over five to six days.

“George goes out and meanders around all of the shallow places of all the lakes,” said Conklin. In early fall, divers will explore deeper depths, as was done last year resulting in new hydrilla beds discovered farther into the lake in a path leading from the marina.

The TLA has hired Shrewsbury, Massachusetts-based lake management company SOLitude to apply multiple, low doses of the herbicide Sonar, in keeping with DEEP’s permit.

Results from this year’s treatment will be reported back to the state and will be shared with the association’s scientific partners, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES), state and local officials and other lake groups.

Research scaled back

Last year, USACE and the CAES tested five locations around the Connecticut River with various herbicides. However, the current federal budget standstill means that research has been scaled back, which concerns environmentalists and lake groups both within and outside of the Connecticut River Valley.

Keith Hannon of USACE’s New England Division, who is among the TLA’s coalition of advisors, confirmed last week that due to the fiscal year 2025 federal budget continuing resolution, his agency’s aquatic plant control research program has not received a budget appropriation for the current fiscal year.

“USACE does have money available to use from previous appropriations for the CT River hydrilla project that doesn’t expire but this money provides a significantly limited budget for the project in fiscal year 2025.”

That said, his agency will continue to execute the program with whatever funding becomes available, noted Hannon.

“In general, if continued no action or limited response to hydrilla persists, it is reasonable to expect the plant will continue to spread at the current rate.”

A busy day of inspections, launches

On a recent Sunday afternoon, David Mathus of Salisbury was among the steady flow of boaters looking to launch into East Twin. He guided his 21-foot SunDeck motorboat into the water, with assistance from Colin Brooks, service manager at O’Hara’s Landing, as the line to launch grew.

Nearby, Keenan Wysocki, one of several boat monitors assigned to check boats coming in and leaving the lake, kept a watchful eye out for hydrilla fragments that might be hitching rides on boats either entering or exiting the lake.

According to Conklin, the TLA is exploring the possibility of adding boat washers at the marina, at a cost of between $50,000 and $60,000.

Mathus, who sits on the boards of both the TLA and nearby Salisbury School, said he is concerned about the federal budget standstill and its potential impact on hydrilla research.

He credited the TLA for its aggressive action to halt the spread locally, and said he hopes federal funding to fight the scourge continues. “I also have a place near the Connecticut River, so I know how badly it’s been affected there.”

Latest News

Join us for


 

  

Keep ReadingShow less
Summer Nights of Canaan

Wednesday, July 16

Cobbler n’ Cream
5 to 7 p.m.
Freund’s Farm Market & Bakery | 324 Norfolk Rd.

Canaan Carnival
6 to 10 p.m.
Bunny McGuire Park

Keep ReadingShow less
When the guide gets it wrong

Rosa setigera is a native climbing rose whose simple flowers allow bees to easily collect pollen.

Dee Salomon

After moving to West Cornwall in 2012, we were given a thoughtful housewarming gift: the 1997 edition of “Dirr’s Hardy Trees and Shrubs.” We were told the encyclopedic volume was the definitive gardener’s reference guide — a fact I already knew, having purchased one several months earlier at the recommendation of a gardener I admire.

At the time, we were in the thick of winter invasive removal, and I enjoyed reading and dreaming about the trees and shrubs I could plant to fill in the bare spots where the bittersweet, barberry, multiflora rose and other invasive plants had been.Years later, I purchased the 2011 edition, updated and inclusive of plants for warm climates.

Keep ReadingShow less
A few highlights from Upstate Art Weekend 2025

Foxtrot Farm & Flowers’ historic barn space during UAW’s 2024 exhibition entitled “Unruly Edges.”

Brian Gersten

Art lovers, mark your calendars. The sixth edition of Upstate Art Weekend (UAW) returns July 17 to 21, with an exciting lineup of exhibitions and events celebrating the cultural vibrancy of the region. Spanning eight counties and over 130 venues, UAW invites residents and visitors alike to explore the Hudson Valley’s thriving creative communities.

Here’s a preview of four must-see exhibitions in the area:

Keep ReadingShow less