SALISBURY / LEICESTER — There will be no swimming at Branbury State Park, or anywhere on Lake Dunmore and Fern Lake, this Wednesday and Thursday because a herbicide will be pumped into the water to kill invasive aquatic plants.
The Lake Dunmore Fern Lake Association is treating the two bodies of water with herbicides called Renovate OTF and Renovate 3 (active ingredient triclopyr) to help get rid of Eurasian watermilfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum, EWM). The application of the herbicide is slated for Wednesday.
A lake water advisory on the LDFLA website explains that no one will be allowed to use water from either lake or water from their outlets “for any purpose,” including boating, fishing, swimming/wading, household use (drinking, food preparation, washing etc.) and irrigation. Swimming, boating and fishing may resume on Friday, June 17.
While using the waters for drinking and food prep will not be allowed until testing is done, the water can be used for other domestic uses on Friday. The water will not be available for irrigation until its safety is determined.
The LDFLA is an association of local property owners. They have used machinery and manpower to remove Eurasian milfoil from parts of Lake Dunmore and Fern Lake for more than two decades.
The association got permission from the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation to apply the herbicide. A map with this story show where the herbicide will be put into the lake.
“For years, we have tried to avoid going to this step,” LDFLA President Jim Foley said of herbicide application earlier in an interview with the Independent this spring. “But we have gotten to a point where we are looking at the numbers, and it has just overwhelmed our crews.”