In early April the EWM Working Group met to discuss plans for the next several months. The MNRF is reviewing our request to deploy benthic matting on seven of the sites being monitored on Drag Lake. Our diving contractor is scheduled to work with us for 4 days starting on July 15, weather permitting. Matting and river rock will be ordered to be on site in early July. In June, Rob Norris, our Lake Steward, and Bob Heyes, our Dive Week Co-ordinator, will visit the known EWM sites to assess growth. This assessment will help them to prioritize work for the dive team. Final meeting outcome, the Working Group has identified four projects involving EWM monitoring and control, partly as a result of comments and suggestions from property owners and partly as a natural next step in our program. More on this last item in following monthly reports.
Eurasian Watermilfoil April Update
Hello fellow property owners,
One month ago we made an appeal for donations to the EWM Fund to sustain our control program beyond this year. Since then we have had donations totalling $6,195, almost enough to fund one day of matting or hand harvesting with commercial diver assistance. If we continue to receive donations at this rate until Thanksgiving we will have the necessary funds to repeat Dive Week again next year. Thanks to the 34 of our 500+ property owners who this month have shown they understand the importance of our program and have contributed to the Fund. For example, one of the 34 made his regular monthly auto-donation of $10, which adds up to $120 each year. (Automatic monthly payments is a feature offered on PayPal). A special thank you to the family that made a $3,000 donation five days before the appeal was made.
We are on the EWM journey together and every donation, whether it is large or small, spontaneous or in response to an appeal, matters to all of us and to the health of our lakes.