Last week, our Diver Assisted Suction Harvesting (DASH) crew completed their contracted hours for the season, and they have provided us their report.

Owen & Beck - Lake St. Catherine Association DASH crew

This season, 146 buckets (17.5 gallon) were harvested. In 2020, 132 buckets were harvested. In 2019, 1,293 buckets were harvested. The DASH crew picked up an additional 21 buckets (not included in the 146 total) as part of the Community Day cleanup in the Channel & Little Lake back in July.

The most amount of milfoil that was removed in one area was from area I, across from the State Park. The milfoil density was very high in this very small .9 acre area, and 53 buckets were removed here. Second was area D, Atwater Bay with 37 buckets from 13.6 acres. Third was area N, Sandy Beach with 24 buckets from 8.2 acres. These 3 areas accounted for approximately 78% of the bucket count this season.

Owen & Beck also report that the lake is looking great, and milfoil areas and densities remain low. They have already generated a preliminary map for 2022, which we'll reference as we perform the Spring survey next May.

Here is a short video taken this season showing how the milfoil is hand-pulled:

Thank you to Owen & Beck for their great work again this season!

Because of their hard work, the spot ProcellaCOR treatments (and the treatment in Little Lake), and the efforts of all of you to get milfoil out of the lake to help to stop the spread, we believe we'll see in our Fall survey that milfoil levels will be at the lowest level we've seen in 15 years (since the full lake treatment in 2004). 

Let's all keep up the good work!

Finally, a quick note on milfoil identification. Throughout the season, we receive calls and emails to report milfoil sightings - which is great. We will always investigate and take a look to see if there is a milfoil issue in the area reported. What we've found is that folks are frequently seeing Illinois Pondweed (Potamogeton illinoensis) and not milfoil.

This is Illinois Pondweed, which is a native aquatic plant for LSC:

This plant had a particularly good growing year. This plant will grow to the surface and the tip of the plant will grow slightly above the surface and you'll see the 'flower' above the water. 

Our DASH crew is not permitted to remove this or any other native plant - they can only hand-pull milfoil.

However, Illinois Pondweed - or other native plants - can certainly become a nuisance in your dock or swimming area. If they are, you may rake or hand-pull these plants in your area to remove them. If you do, you should do your best to remove them by the roots, and ALWAYS remove them from the lake and get them on shore. Let them dry out and dispose of them as you would yard waste. 

This is milfoil:

This is an invasive weed that the DASH crew is permitted to remove.

Thanks again to everyone working hard and participating in this lake-wide Milfoil Control Program. Our collective efforts are making a significant and measurable difference in the milfoil level of Lake St. Catherine!

We hope you find our Milfoil Control efforts worthy and we can earn your support - are you a member for 2021? Maintaining the lake costs approximately $125,000 annually. Grants, membership dues and contributions make up the majority of our funding. If you'd like to help, please consider becoming a member or making a donation. The LSCA is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization and any contribution that you make may be tax deductible.