Milfoil Update

  Good Morning --

As part of its efforts to contain and possibly eradicate an infestation of invasive Eurasian watermilfoil, the Joe's Pond Association (JPA) has contracted with SOLitude Lake Management, a licensed aquatic herbicide applicator, to conduct a treatment of a portion of Joe's Pond with the herbicide ProcellaCOR.

This treatment will occur on Wednesday, August 26^th beginning at 9:00 AM.  

ProcellaCOR is the only aquatic herbicide approved by the VT Agency of Natural Resources for use in the control of Eurasian watermilfoil because it is narrowly targeted, affecting a very small number of native aquatic plant species, its extremely low toxicity overall, and its rapid dissipation. 

Approximately 35 acres of the First and Second Ponds of Joe's Pond will be treated by the method of subsurface injection.  This represents just under 9% of the total 400 acre area of Joe's Pond and approximately 27% of the total area (130 acres) of the Joe's Pond littoral zone, or shallow water portion of the lake, within which Eurasian watermilfoil will grow.

Despite the relatively benign characteristics of ProcellaCOR noted above and the limited treatment area, the permit issued by VT ANR to the JPA authorizing this herbicide treatment includes a number of temporary water use restrictions including:

• No boating activity anywhere on Joe's Pond from 9:00 AM Wednesday, August 26th until 12:00 PM on Thursday, August 27th
• No swimming or other human water contact during the same time window
• The Town of Danville will close the Joe's Pond beach for water recreation during this time
• If water is drawn from the pond for domestic use, this should be discontinued during this time period.  Bottled water will be made available by the JPA for pick up at the JPA Pavilion upon request.  Contact Joe Hebert, JPA President, at pjhebert@charter.net if you need to replace your domestic water supply.
• Irrigation of food crops by water drawn from Joe's Pond should be discontinued during this time.

The JPA will be conducting post-treatment water sampling within 48 hours of the treatment to ensure there is no residual herbicide in and downstream of the treated area.

Two post-treatment aquatic vegetation surveys, one this fall and another in 2027, will be performed  by an environmental consultant to assess the effect of the treatment on both Eurasian watermilfoil and native plant species sensitive to ProcellaCOR.

Results of the post-treatment water sampling and aquatic vegetation surveys will, upon completion, be posted on the JPA website:  www.joespondvermont.com

The JPA apologizes for any inconvenience or other losses of opportunity incurred by JPA members, and other users of Joe's Pond, as a result of this invasive species management operation.  The JPA does not take lightly the decision to utilize an aquatic herbicide to control and potentially eradicate Eurasian watermilfoil from the waters of Joe's Pond but rather, arrives at this decision only after extensive discussion and evaluation of alternatives by the JPA Eurasian Watermilfoil Management Committee and solicitation and consideration of input from the JPA membership.

Thank you to all JPA members and other recreational users of Joe's Pond for your forbearance and understanding of our collective interest in protecting Joe's Pond from the scourge of invasive watermilfoil.

For the Joe's Pond Association

Joe Hebert, President

Barry Cahoon, Water Quality Director

Eurasian Watermilfoil Management Coordinator