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Milfoil battle takes a hit in Barnstead
Suncook River can't be treated again this year
 
 
by Brendan Berube
Contributing Writer
 
August 16, 2007
BARNSTEAD — They were close to declaring the Suncook River milfoil free, but now the Barnstead Milfoil Control Committee has been left to re-group after the state dealt their treatment program a serious blow.

Earlier this month, an application from the committee to re-treat areas along the river that were either missed during the last round of treatments in May and early June, or where the applied herbicide had been washed away by heavy rains, was denied by the state due to confusion on the part of the committee over the terms of the original permit.

The initial permit obtained by the committee authorized a series of four treatments on the Suncook River. The committee thought that they had been pre-approved for any necessary re-treatments, as well; however, there was no clause in the permit authorizing additional treatments, so the committee will have to wait until next year to apply for a new permit, leaving the treatment of the Suncook watershed at a standstill until then.

"That hurt us," said committee Chairman Ed Neister, explaining that treatment of the milfoil problem in the Suncook River watershed has now been left at a virtual standstill until next year.

According to Neister, the committee will re-group and re-examine the situation in the fall, and try to roll treatments in other local ponds and lakes into next year's application.

In the meantime, he said, dive teams have been hard at work pulling an unexpectedly high amount of milfoil out of both Suncook Lake and Locke Lake.

The divers, Neister said, pulled about 150 gallons of milfoil from the upper Suncook Lake, and another 15 gallons from the lower part of the lake.

"We weren't expecting that," he said, explaining that the plants were all found in high-silt areas.

An analysis by the Army Corps of Engineers, he said, revealed that the plants had sprouted from seeds which (unbeknownst to anyone until now) can apparently lay dormant in areas of high silt content for up to two years before developing into fully grown plants.

"In short," Neister said, "[milfoil] has developed to be a very, very nasty plant."

For now, he said, the committee is in a waiting game until the fall.

The Milfoil Control Committee normally meets on the second Thursday of each month at the Oscar Foss Memorial Library. Their next meeting has been scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 13, at 7 p.m.

 

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