prop chop – Aquarius-Systems

Boat Wash Station Helps Protect Schroon Lake from Invasive Species

Fri, 18 Nov 2022 16:16:11 +0000

Schroon Lake in New York is infested with curly leaf pondweed and milfoil, two invasive species. But lake advocates and state and local officials are working to keep other aquatic invasives out through a new boat washing station in Severance.

Partners are working to keep Schroon Lake free of invasive species, though the lake is already populated with milfoil. Signs are seen at the Schroon Lake boat launch in the town of Schroon, warning boaters to stay away for the milfoil as prop chop will spread the invasive species.

One sign posted to warn boaters states, “Your hull & prop will chop & spread this invasive weed creating a MAJOR THREAT to the health of this lake!”

Prop Chop Spreads Eurasian Milfoil in Black Lake as Officials Debate Control Options

Fri, 05 Nov 2021 15:44:30 +0000

County legislators are considering providing some type of support to a group trying to get rid of the Eurasian milfoil infestation in Black Lake, New York.

The milfoil problem is exacerbated when propellers on boats going through the lake chop it up (prop chop) the and spread its seeds. Legislators debated what methods could stop that. One group wants to dig a 50-foot channel to keep the propellers away from the milfoil. Another method could be to rent a machine that mechanically harvests the milfoil.

St. Albans Weed Harvesters Remove Tons of Unwanted Plant Material

Tue, 26 Oct 2021 21:08:38 +0000

Each year, the St. Albans Area Watershed Association uses mechanical harvesters to cut and remove tons of unwanted plant material out of St. Albans Bay. The harvesters scooped up almost 90,000 bushels of plants in 2020 alone.

The aquatic weed harvesters are used for establishing things like navigation lanes and clearing out areas of varied plant growth, like impacted boating or swimming areas and the weed harvester can remove a lot of plant material. Alternatives would be more time consuming and expensive!

Funding for the 18-year old program is now in question as concerns were raised whether the harvesters are contributing to the spread of Eurasian watermilfoil by fragmentation in Lake Champlain.

However, an environmental analyst with the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation said that there’s no hard scientific evidence outside of anecdotal observation to suggest that harvesting is causing the spread of the milfoil. There are no data sets to answer whether the two lake weed harvesters are the major spreaders of the invasive plant species when there is plenty of boat traffic making waves and cutting through the invasive vegetation.