The Greater Lake Sylvia Association reported over the weekend that starry stonewort has been found near the public access on the west lake, and that the presence of the invasive vegetation has been confirmed by the Department of Natural Resources.
Association officials were meeting with the DNR to discuss treatment options on Monday, Oct. 3, when this edition of the Advocate went to press, and additional information was not yet available.
GLSA members have been concerned about starry stonewort since it was first discovered in Paynesville’s Lake Koronis last August. That was the first known infestation in Minnesota.
In August Blaine Barkley, the chair of Lake Sylvia’s aquatic invasive species committee, shared through an Advocate article his concerns about the rapid spread of starry stonewort in Lake Koronis and the potential impact upon Annandale as a lakes destination if the stonewort should spread through fragments carried on boats or other lake equipment.
"What scares me to death is the potential impact on the city of Annandale and surrounding area if it gets here," Barkley said in the Aug. 31 edition of the Advocate. "This is by miles the most dangerous invasive aquatic weed in the country, and every lake in Minnesota only needs the tiniest of fragments to become infected. They call it a lake killer … The entire economy of any town that relies on the lakes is in jeopardy since it destroys the use of the lake, not just impacts fishing."
Dense mats of the grass-like algae can prevent swimming, fishing and boating, and in Lake Koronis have spread from a public access down both sides of the lake.
Russ Fortner, who accompanied Barkley on a trip to Lake Koronis to monitor the impact in August, said that while he is not typically an alarmist, the algae’s impact on Koronis "made me sick to my stomach."
Barkley and Fortner saw during that trip that the starry stonewort has colored the water a pea green, and divers reported that the water was a yellowish color down to a depth of 30 feet.
Some vegetation making up the mats on the surface periodically dies, creating a putrid rotten egg smell that adds a third dimension to the stonewort’s threatening nature, in addition to the visual and recreational drawbacks.
"We’re talking about a lifestyle changer," Fortner said in the same Aug. 31 Advocate article. "We have to get people to understand that this is serious."
Barkley said that it would be very difficult to limit starry stonewort to one Annandale area lake if it were to gain a foothold here.
"Sylvia has 2,600 boat launches a year. Clearwater has got to have that many or more," he said. "You get this in one of these lakes and it will just spread from one lake to another to another. I don’t know how you stop it."
Asked how concerned the DNR is about starry stonewort in comparison to Eurasian milfoil, zebra mussels or other more commonly known invasives, Chris Jurek, an AIS specialist for the DNR, said in the Aug. 31 article that while every infestation regardless of species is concerning, the impact on any given lake is difficult to forecast because of many environmental variables.
"We cannot predict how a specific AIS will interact within a system," she said, adding that there is limited research on the management of starry stonewort in the United States.
Barkley said that from his perspective, starry stonewort is one of the worst possible invasives that could enter an area lake.
"Zebra mussels are like nothing compared to this. On a scale of 1 to 100, zebra mussels are a 1 and starry stonewort is 100," he said last month.
Treatment and prevention
Since its initial discovery in Lake Koronis, the DNR has reported starry stonewort infestations at Lake Winnibigoshish, Moose Lake, Rice Lake, Upper Red Lake and Cass Lake.
What the Lake Koronis Association has discovered through treatment done with a $400,000 allocation from the state Legislature and $400,000 in matching funds is that the algae, which consists of linked but independent cells, is difficult to kill with herbicides that effectively curb Eurasian milfoil.
"The Koronis people said the chemicals just give it a haircut," said Barkley, adding that since the herbicide can only kill what it touches, only the top few inches of the dense mats are affected.
The plant can also continue to reproduce even after being pulled from a lake and left to "dry out to a powder" if fragments of it are returned to the water, Barkley said.
Jurek said in August that no starry stonewort infestation has been eradicated in the U.S., but that the DNR is working with states that have more experience with the algae to determine management options.
Minnesota laws to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species stipulate that boaters must clean aquatic plants and animals from watercraft, drain all water by removing drain plugs, keep drain plugs out while transporting watercraft and dispose of unwanted bait in the trash.
The DNR also recommends spraying watercraft and trailers with high-pressure water, rinsing with hot water between 120 and 140 degrees, and drying for at least five days after leaving infested waters. Boaters can also run their motor for a few seconds to discharge water before leaving an access.
Annandale has a free decontamination station at the Anchor Dock and Lift building behind Classic Hall and Event Center.
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