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The Barnstead Milfoil Control Committee
The Barnstead Milfoil Control Committee meets every second Thursday of the month at 7:00 pm in the Library for a business and work session.
For a schedule of meeting dates, please go to the Government Calendar.
All meetings are open to the public and we encourage public attendance.
It is the mission of the Milfoil Control Committee to:
Eradicate Milfoil in the Town Of Barnstead.
BMC Members
S. Edward Neister – Chairman & Diver program manager
Jim Fougere – Assistant Chairman & Project Director
Dot Wenblad - Assistant Chairman & Project Director
Pam Miller – Survey Specialist
Dave Juvet – Information Officer & Activity Recorder
Suzanne Picone – Data collection specialist
Brian White – Diver program leader
Elaine Burns - Alternate
Rick Therrien - Alternate
Stacy Mulcahy
Jeff Crary
Jonathan Tripp
The BMC members can be reached at:
Town Of Barnstead, Milfoil Control Committee
PO Box 11
108 South Barnstead Road
Center Barnstead, NH 03225
603-269-4071
email: MilfoilControl@Barnstead.org
Milfoil Updates
2007 Final Report
Suncook River 06/06/07
Media Articles
Milfoil Connection [pdf]
Milfoil Control Committee Plan for Barnstead’s Suncook River
Below is a detailed map you can download. Select preferred size.
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View image of Milfoil Weed |
DES has conducted treatments in the Contoocook River and the Winnipesauke River.
To our knowledge an herbicide treatment for variable water milfoil has never been done on a scale that we must do on the Suncook River. The Suncook River is being choked with this weed. It has reached the point where recreational use is severely limited. The Barnstead Milfoil Committee (BMC) is submitting a research grant this fall for treatment of the river. This summer we are doing the necessary background work and discussing with all permitting departments and the public involved about the process and the requirements necessary to ensure the maximum treatment effectiveness.
We met with the Dam Bureau and they are more than willing to help. Our plan is to learn from the test drop this fall and apply that to the treatment period next year. The concept is to create shallow areas that will be treated and force the water currents to recede back to the main channel area. At each 2 foot level, the reduction should be sufficient to significantly reduce water currents in the shallow areas. The level is to remain constant for 5 days to permit herbicide take up.
Part of the test drop will be to determine necessary data to help match inflow with out flow. Ideally, it would be good to get some rain to help get as much data as possible. A second reason is to reduce the amount of plant matter in the river by killing off the existing stalks. If we are fortunate with nature next spring, we will treat the area before the stalks can re-grow to significant size.
The River and the impact of the flood on the pre-flood survey data make this a difficult problem. Because of many potential complications, we are planning to treat next summer and then study the results the following summer 08 while we treat the lakes north of the river. After our study, then do a final treatment of the River in 09. By then, we will have a much better understanding of the areas that have deep silt with plants difficult to kill and areas that have milfoil very close to the main current.
Our expectation is that currents and wind will affect the treatment more than the potential of new plants coming from the lakes above the treatment area and the gauntlet of obstacles any segments must pass before they can reach the treatment area 2 miles downstream. The infestation is so great now that it is difficult to do anything on the river. The wide area of coverage makes using kayaks or canoes very labor intensive.
Prior to the test and actual treatment, the outflow from the dam at the Suncook Lake will be reduced to a minimum. As Andy told us during the meeting, the process takes 36 hours to drop the river level two feet. The morning of the third day, the level will be checked and outflow adjusted to get close to the desired level. During the test period, BMC will check the level on the river early in the morning of the third day and notify the dam control people. The BMC will survey the river that afternoon and note the locations on a master copy of the 1 foot contour map ACT prepared.
The river will be dropped a second time by two feet and the procedure of adjustment and mapping the level will follow. The object is to drop the level by eight feet in increments of 2 feet to test the process and determine the actual current river levels compared to the ACT contour map done prior to the flood.
A final drop will be done to check the milfoil distance to the main river channel. This observation will determine whether or not divers will be required to harvest milfoil that is located so near the current that it can't be treated.
| To tabulate all activity: | ||
| Notice in paper | 8/17 | Baysider |
| Public Hearing | 8/23 | 7 pm to 9 pm |
| Drop 1 | 2 feet | 9/6 9/08 |
| Drop 2 | 2 feet | 9/11 9/13 |
| Drop 3 | 2 feet | 9/13 9/15 |
| Drop 4 | 2 feet | 9/18 9/20 |
| Final | 9/25 | 10 feet or lower to check channel location |
| Raise river | 10/1 | during upper lake scheduled drops |
During the drop, we are requesting the UNH Cooperative Extension do some drogue studies of the current in the dropped zone to confirm that the current has been forced away from the proposed treatment regions. Analysis of this process will determine the number of drops required to do an effective treatment. Currently it is estimated that four drops are required, but it could be reduced to three.
The second reason for dropping the river this fall is to kill the current vegetation of the milfoil plant. This does not kill the plant, but it does force the plant to grow new stalks beginning next spring. This will greatly reduce the amount of plant matter in the water during next years scheduled treatment and should make a significant improvement on the treatment's effectiveness.
The river should be left in its lowest state for the remainder of September to ensure the kill. On October 1st, the level lowering process of the upstream lakes will begin. The river can be filled quickly as the water levels are adjusted to increase lake outflow.
BMC will be responsible for tracking rainfall and plotting river outflow adjustments and flow rates to inflow and level attained. Better understanding of this process will greatly assist the control during treatment next summer.
The treatment process during the summer of 2007 will follow the same drop procedure but will keep the level constant for a 5 day treatment period. It is very important to do the treatment as early as possible before the milfoil grows back to full growth. Treatment will be done on the first day, and level kept constant to assist in obtaining sufficient herbicide contact time. This will follow the process estimated to be as follows:
Monday to Wednesday; drop and stabilize the river
Wednesday; apply herbicide to selected area
Thursday to Sunday; maintain river level for effective treatment (water current measurements [0.1 f/s] and drogue studies will be done to confirm no current exists in the treatment area)
Approximate schedule (subject to weather):
| Treatment 2007 | ||
| Drop 1 | 2 feet | 4/23 4/25 4/25 – 4/29 |
| Drop 2 | 2 feet | 4/30 5/2 5/2 - 5/6 |
| Drop 3 | 2 feet | 5/7 5/9 5/9 - 5/13 |
| Drop 4 | 2 feet | 5/14 5/16 5/16 – 5/20 (this may not be required) |
| Raise river | -------------------------- | 5/21 |
The treatment schedule will always factor in the weather.
If a large rain storm is predicted prior to the next treatment, that treatment will be delayed until the river level is stabilized. No treatment will be applied if the next 5 days of stable river level was in question due to weather.
The UNH Cooperative extension will also assist in providing water sampling to measure herbicide concentrations in selected regions during the treatment and provide the drogue studies.
Critical to the treatment effectiveness will be weather. If any significant rain occurs, then delays in the treatment are required to stabilize the correct level and insure that any significant current is out of the scheduled treatment zone. Upstream dam levels may need to be adjusted accordingly and this will add time. This process will require development of a new more effective notification procedure that can meet the required flexibility.
All of this will be presented at the public hearing on August 23 from 7 pm to 9 pm.
We now need to get agreement of those departments involved in the permitting process.
A request for the research treatment funding will be submitted this fall and the treatment permit application will follow.
Latest Updates
September 6, 2006:
Members of the Barnstead Milfoil Control Committee (BMC) and the Suncook Lake Milfoil Control Committee met today with Department of Environmental Services (DES) people and NHFGD (fish and game) people at DES in Concord to discuss the delay in the drawdown of the Suncook River. The drawdown was scheduled to start today but was stopped due to concerns by NHFGD.
People attending from Barnstead included: Gordon Preston, Selectmen. BMC members; Ed Neister, Jim Fougere, Mike Kowalski, Dot Wenblad, Brian White. Suncook Lake Milfoil Control Committee; Ed Neister, Ron Weston, Bill Johnson. NH Legislature; Dick Drisko. People from DES included Paul Currier, Amy Smagula, Jody Connor. People from F&G; Scott Decker.
F&G concerns center around the effect of the drawdown because of a possible habitat for the Bridle Shiner and a possible sighting of the Swamp Darter. Google the two names to get more information. Both of these fish are about 2” long, have short life spans and are primarily feeding stock for the game fish of bass and pickerel. They are not listed on the endangered species list but are ‘of concern’ to F&G.
It was made very clear that the last date for the drawdown to start had to be September 18. If the 8 to 10 feet drawdown is not permitted in order to do the required information gathering of the contour and milfoil location, then the herbicide treatment next year will not be possible. The river has a number of spots that are 20 feet deep. Milfoil in the river is not expected to grow in depths exceeding 8 feet.
DES and NHFGD promised they would have a decision by 9/18.
Ed Neister
Chairman - BMC
