Grant pays for weed analysis of Moses Lake

Milfoil found, but manageable

MOSES LAKE - A $30,000 grant from the state Department of Ecology is paying for a new level of noxious weed control work in Moses Lake.

The money is aimed at reducing the exclusive use of a weed harvester in the lake during the summer, which gets expensive because it's time-consuming to operate, fuel prices are high and the costs for disposal of weeds are too, said Curt Carpenter, general manager of the Moses Lake Irrigation and Rehabilitation District.

The irrigation district manages the lake.

Using the weed harvester less frequently will likely save the district money in fuel costs, manpower and maintenance, he added.

The advantages of utilizing other weed control tools includes improving the growth of native plants, killing milfoil selectively and bettering fish habitat, Carpenter said.

He said he's in the process of applying for another grant to pay for chemicals to fight weeds as another tool in weed control.

The Priest River, Idaho-based Lakeland Restoration Services is expected to complete the surveying work this week after about two and a half weeks of work, Carpenter said. They plan to reinspect areas of the lake less than 10 feet in depth, he added.

With 160 miles of shoreline, Moses Lake is made up of four fingers of water and encompasses 6,800 acres, Carpenter said.

Lakeland Restoration Services will visit 835 points on the lake, which is one point for every eight acres shown on the survey grid of a GPS system, said Dave Klutz, managing member of Lakeland Restoration Services.

The GPS records will be printed and given to Carpenter. Irrigation district employees will be able to use the GPS map from the weed harvester and they'll also be able to interface electronically.

On Thursday, the company had worked for about nine days in Moses Lake and was preparing to start a shoreline survey of noxious weeds called the purple looseleaf and yellow flag iris.

There are 60 types of milfoil and 23 types were counted in Moses Lake, Carpenter said.

Although Klutz said he was afraid half the lake was infested with milfoil, he learned otherwise. "What I've found is, is that it can be managed," Klutz said.

Klutz said he generally found milfoil in a small portion of the lake and there was little milfoil in the Rocky Ford Creek feed.

He said he estimates less the 10 percent of the lake will need a controlled herbicide application for weeds and he hadn't yet found plants below 10 feet of water.

He learned there's a lot of biodiversity in the lake, with animals such as beavers, muskrats, grebes, ducks and blue herons, Klutz said.

Klutz said another tool his company uses is a small oxygen meter. It's dipped into the lake to measure oxygen levels before and after a chemical application.

The oxygen tests are done to avoid harming fish, who need oxygen to survive, he said.

There are high oxygen levels in the lake, Carpenter added.