Tainter Lake District: “Is the juice worth the squeeze” regarding aquatic plant removal
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — When considering the removal of aquatic plants from a lake — “Is the juice worth the squeeze?”
According to Tyler Mesalk, an expert on aquatic species with the Wisconsin DNR out of the Eau Claire office, removing aquatic plants “can be a quick, easy patch” or it can be “a longterm investment of money or time.”
Aquatic plants and vegetation are not weeds. They are plants, and plants are good because they provide food and habitat for fish and wildlife, Mesalk said at the February 20 meeting of the Tainter Lake Rehabilitation District Board of Commissioners.
The amount of snow and ice cover, the timing of spring precipitation and the temperature can affect how soon aquatic plants become a problem during the year for activities such as trying to navigate a boat, he said.
There was little snow and ice cover and warmer temperatures last year, while this year there was more snow and ice and colder temperatures, Mesalk noted.
“Prevention is the key” when considering ways to handle an overabundance of aquatic plants, he said.
Prevention is cheaper than reaction and involves best management practices for the entire watershed and land use closer to the lake, Mesalk said.
Tainter Lake is at the end of the watershed where water entering the lake carries nutrients and sediments, he said.
The Red Cedar Watershed covers 1,900 square miles.
For efforts to control aquatic plants, there must be an understanding of sediment distribution, nutrient content, basin morphology and land use, Mesalk said.
Invasive species
Invasive species such as Brazilian waterweed, hydrilla, water hyacinth, water lettuce and parrot feather are more of a problem in the southern United States and are not present in Wisconsin, he said.
The pet trade and aquaculture are ways that invasive aquatic plants move into water bodies, Mesalk said, noting that sometimes people have plants in rain gardens that could be invasive, and people have been known to throw unwanted plants off of bridges.
Many invasive aquatic plant species can spread by fragmentation, so bits and pieces that break off can also find their way into bodies of water where they should not be, he said.
Non-native phragmites, which can grown 15 to 20 feet hight, and giant hogweed, which can grow 10 feet tall, are two invasive to watch out for, Mesalk said.
Non-native phragmites grow in the Green Bay Area and in some places along Interstate-94, he said.
Giant hogweed can handle “wet feet” and some is located in central Wisconsin. It can cause blisters on the skin, Mesalk said.
Silver carp
Regarding invasive fish species, silver carp have been found in the Chippewa River and in the Black River, Mesalk said.
When the silver carp are spawning and there is more water from snow melt or rain, that’s when they can get into the Chippewa River and the Black River. There are no confirmations of populations yet. They “visit” from the Mississippi River and then go back to the Mississippi, Mesalk said.
Two ways to identify silver carp is that they have their eyes placed below the center of their body and they have no barbels (“whiskers” around their mouths). Anyone who catches a silver carp should contact the DNR, he said.
Plant management
Aquatic plants tend to be a problem on the eastern end of Tainter Lake and also near the Hay River, which are both places where there is fertile sediment coming in, shallower water and better light, Mesalk said.
The sediment load coming into the lake will have to be managed to manage the plants in the lake, he said.
Harvesting aquatic plants to keep navigation lanes open can be used along the north and south shores of the lake, Mesalk said.
Once harvesting of aquatic pants starts, then it tends to be a process that never ends, although the harvest time will vary from year to year, depending upon the previous winter, he noted.
Drawdowns
Drawdowns can be used to compact sediment coming into lakes, but Tainter Lake’s sediment is sand, and sand does not compact during a drawdown, Mesalk said.
Al Brown, chair of the Board of Commissioners, asked if drawdowns during the winter could be used to manage aquatic plants along the shore.
That would depend on the winter. Some plant species can handle disturbances such as a drawdown and then come back quickly in the spring, Mesalk said.
Getting the sediments under control upstream will help much more for vegetation, he said.
Likewise, cyanobacteria/algae always will be problem until the sediment is under control. Algae is a symptom of larger issues in the watershed, Mesalk said.
Always
Here are some things that lake groups should always be doing, according to Mesalk:
• Maintain natural shorelines with minimal disturbance.
• Continual education, such as attending the Red Cedar Watershed Conference and having speakers at meetings.
• Removal of fertilizer use around the lake. People who live around the lake who are fertilizing their lawns might want to consider not fertilizing their lawns.
• Find ways to conserve, protect or restore land use, if applicable.
• Maximize who and what you have, which will vary from lake group to lake group. If there are only a few people doing the work, they could end up burning out after a while, and then there is no one to do the work.
Lake groups should focus on prevention rather than reaction, Mesalk said.
Think “large picture,” because the watershed is much larger than the lake, he said.
A “rate your shoreline” tool is located on the DNR’s website to help people figure out what they can do to improve their shorelines, Mesalk said.
If the shoreline on an individual property rates at a “1” then there are quite a few things that can be done to reduce to run-off into the lake that carries sediment and nutrients, he said.
