The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation is aiming to reduce invasive plant species in Lake Whitehall in a plan that calls for herbicides and mechanical harvesting.
The reservoir has extensive growth of “exotic nuisance aquatic vegetation,” including fanwort and variable-leaf milfoil, according to a report by ESS Group, a firmed hired by the state.
The planned management program calls for herbicide treatments, mechanical harvesting, hand and diver harvesting, and benthic barriers, a method that uses sediment.
“DCR is also seeking approval for the use of algaecide treatments should they be necessary to control algae blooms following the management of aquatic invasive plant species in the reservoir,” the report reads.