Christina Lake Eurasian Milfoil Control Program Evaluation and Report:
AquaTechnex 2006 Report
Milfoil Update – November, 2013
Letter from the Honourable Mary Polak, Minister of the Environment
Dear MJ Fairweather:
Thank you for your letter of July 26, 2013, sent on behalf of the Christina Lake Waterfront Property Owners’ Society (CLWPOS), regarding the presence and spread of Eurasian water milfoil in Christina Lake. I apologize for the delay in responding.
The Ministry of Environment (MoE) understands your concern around Eurasian water milfoil as a nuisance weed in recreational swimming and boating areas. Given the costs and potential environmental impacts associated with mechanical removal of Eurasian water milfoil, exploring native milfoil weevil as a control agent for the non-native Eurasian water milfoil might provide a lower impact alternative to milfoil management.
However, since there is no precedent in British Columbia for using a native insect to control an aquatic invasive species, it can take time to determine the legalities of such a proposal, as well as to develop an appropriate permitting process in order to assess the proposed treatment and balance its potential benefits and risks.
MoE staff are working closely with our colleagues at the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations to develop a policy and an associated process allowing the public to submit proposals, have them assessed and potentially permitted. We are also in consultation with taxonomic and biocontrol experts to build our understanding of the proposed approach.
We appreciate your patience and are working on providing the public with details of the application process as soon as it is developed.
Thank you again for writing.
Sincerely,
Mary Polak
Minister
Milfoil – Update Mid July 2013
Milfoil appeared around Christina lake docks around the mid 1980s and spread throughout the lake by 1986. A shared coast program (between the province and RDKB) was implemented in 1987. However the province annually reduced and finally withdrew their participation by 1998, burdening the RDKB area C tax payers with the total cost of the program.
There is a great deal of information on the milfoil control program on the RDKB website: research reports, annual work reports, study partnerships, maps, graphs, and a weevil research and weevil control program video. To access website, press Ctrl key and click on
http://www.rdkb.com/Services/EnvironmentalServices/InvasivePlants/EurasianMilfoil.aspx
Milfoil Control
What is happening
Hand harvesting control
Two crews focussing on south end of the lake Lavalee Pt to Sutherland Creek. ~ 110,000 plants harvested to date as of late 2012.
On Thursdays, have two boats operating, total 8/boat crews working per week.
Can follow work of the boat on Google Earth through the rdkb web site at ‘www.rdkb.com/Services/EnvironmentalServices/EurasianMilfoil.aspx/’
Biological control
Milfoil weevil (MW) control in partnership with EnvironmentalScience Inc. (ESI).
ESI is a commercial, American company with proprietary technology for the rapid cultivation of milfoil weevil populations for enhanced application of weevils for Eurasian water milfoil control
The milfoil weevil is a native insect occurring in small populations in many North American lakes; unique in that in both the larval and insect forms it has a natural preference for eating EWMF.
Following a meeting at Christina Lake in late March, 2012, the RDKB has entered into an agreement with ESI for the collection and potential testing of MW for EWMF control at Christina Lake. This step was successfully completed.
Schedule
End of July 2012 – collection of weevil populations at Christina and other lakes in southern BC by ESI.
Confirmation of presence of milfoil weevil native population at Christina Lake (and elsewhere) – end of August 2012. This work was completed towards the end of 2012 with a positive result.
Permit application for test application of enhanced weevil population – September – October, 2012
This application as of Mid-July 2013 remains ‘in process’, in part due to a new provincial government with a new local member and a new provincial minister of the environment.
Breeding facility arrangements – Nov 2012 – March 2013 Timing for this work will be contingent upon receiving the above noted permit application.
Commencement of application of enhanced weevil populations at Christina – April – June 2013. Again timing for this work will be contingent upon completion of the preceding steps.
Evaluation of test applications – July – October 2013. Again this step will be contingent upon successful completion of the preceding steps.
Discussions with other BC jurisdictions for study cost and research sharing – currently underway and continuing.
The following picture shows eurasian milfoil levels from the 2010 survey.