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Towns Asked to Fund the Milfoil Harvester

April 02, 2008 - WATERBORO -- For the first time, the Lake Arrowhead Community is asking towns to pay to help fight a variable leaf milfoil invasion in Lake Arrowhead.

The Lake Arrowhead Community, a private development of about 1500 homes in Limerick and Waterboro, has asked the towns to contribute $7,500 each toward outfitting a "suction harvester" boat -- a pontoon style boat with special gear that pulls milfoil out by the roots.

Limerick residents approved the funding in February, and Waterboro residents will vote on it at town meeting in June.

Mike Fitzpatrick, a member of the community's board of trustees, said the effort will help all residents in the region because a milfoil infestation brings down property values and makes the lake less of an attraction for anyone who uses it. "Milfoil has a very negative impact," he said.

The 1100 acre man-made Lake Arrowhead is one of 26 lakes in Maine that are infested with variable leaf milfoil, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection. The invasive species is nearly impossible to eradicate because it grows rapidly and has no natural predators.

The plant crowds out native plants, forms thick mats of vegetation and lowers oxygen levels.

There are a range of milfoil fighting techniques, from lowering lake levels in the fall so the plants freeze over the winter, to having snorkelers pull the plants out by hand. But milfoil tears easily, and can reestablish itself from even the tiniest bit of leaf, even if it has dried out.

Suction harvesters, already used in Little Sebago and the Songo River, are one of the most effective means of removing milfoil, Fitzpatrick said.

The community already has a boat that was donated anonymously, he said. The $15,000 from Limerick and Waterboro would pay to outfit the boat with necessary gear, and the community plans to raise money and use volunteers to pay for the boat's operation.

"That still won't cover all of our costs. We need to have a diver in the water and two more people, by law, up in the boat," he said. The community will also need a second boat or raft to follow the suction harvester and hold the bags of extracted milfoil.

One Waterboro resident, former selectman Frank Allen, said he plans to vote against the funding request. He predicted that the vote in Waterboro may not be as "smooth" as it was in Limerick.

"The economy is pretty tight these days," said Allen, a retiree who runs a blog, www.waterboromaine.yuku.com, about local politics and items of interest. "The people in the forums, they don't want the town spending the money."

This article first appeared in the Portland Press Herald, April 1, 2008.


Lakes: Lake Arrowhead
Regions: Sebago


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