Lake Pend Oreille Eurasian Milfoil Control Program

Aquatechnex awarded Bonner County Milfoil Program for 2009

aquatechnex — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 23:37:48 +0000

The Bonner County Commissioners selected our firm as the most qualified respondent to their Request for Proposals to perform Eurasian Milfoil control operations this summer on Lake Pend Oreille, the River and Priest Lake. The project blog address is www.pomilfoil.wordpress.com and interested parties should go there for additional information. That site is updated daily during the treatment program.

Idaho Rep. Eric Anderson’s Invasive Aquatic Species Bill Passes

aquatechnex — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 18:02:47 +0000

The Idaho State Legislature this past week passed a bill to help Idaho protect it’s waters from aquatic invaders heading their way. Quagga and Zebra Mussels have plagued the Great Lakes and Mississippi River drainage since their introduction in the 1980′s. One mussel can generate tens of thousands of offspring in one growing season and these mussels attached to hard surfaces, like the inside of drinking water deliver systems, power plant cooling systems, irrigation delivery systems and other key infrastructure systems. Prevention will be key as once these organisms are introduced, they tend to be impossible to control. Rep. Anderson has spearheaded the protection of Idaho’s water resources and this bill will provide funding from user fees to launch this program. The main mode of spread is on boat trailers and this law provides for a yearly fee on boat owners to fund the prevention program. For more information you can go to:

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/mar/31/boat-sticker-bill-goes-idaho-governor/

Aquatechnex completes Fall Eurasian Milfoil Survey

aquatechnex — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 23:26:10 +0000

Bonner County continues to make real progress in their mission to reduce the impact of Eurasian Milfoil on the Pend Oreille Lake and River System. Aquatechnex biologists have recently completed a survey of over 100 miles of lake and river shoreline to map remaining populations of this invasive aquatic weed. The historical range of this plant was calculated to be over 6,700 acres. The ongoing treatment program has reduced this infestation to about 11 percent of it’s maximum distribution range.

Aquatechnex Winter Newsletter Available

aquatechnex — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 23:09:30 +0000

Our quarterly electronic newsletter is now available and has been sent to registered users. If your interested you can visit http://newsletter.baron-co.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=public.home&id=10 to view those articles. To sign up go to www.aquatechnex.com and click on the Customer Service Center. Thanks.

Private Group Funds Study of Weevils for Pend Oreille Milfoil

aquatechnex — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 17:23:12 +0000

This article from the Bonner County Daily Bee outlines the plans of a local group to put together a study on the applicability of milfoil weeviles in this lake and river system. It should be interesting to see what happens here, to read more go to:http://www.bonnercountydailybee.com/articles/2008/12/26/news/doc4953f2b876738551351480.txt

New Technologies for Eurasian Milfoil Control

aquatechnex — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 23:49:04 +0000

We are happy to announce two new technologies for the control of this noxious aquatic weed. Click on this link to read more, www.aquatechnex.wordpress.com or go to the blog roll on the right column to go to Aquatechnex.

Bonner County Awards Fall Eurasian Milfoil Mapping Project to Aquatechnex

aquatechnex — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 19:41:23 +0000

Aquatechnex biologists will be moblizing to map remaining Eurasian Milfoil present in the Lake Pend Oreille and Pend Oreille River system this week. Bonner County has been managing one of the largest Eurasian Milfoil control programs ever attempted in the Western United States. In 2005, this weed infested over 4,000 acres along 90 miles of lake and river shoreline. Using funds provided by the Idaho State Legislature through the Idaho Department of Agriculture, the County has performed three years of treatments targeting this invasive aquatic weed.

Aquatechnex first mapped these infestations in the summer of 2005. Those maps were instrumental in helping the State understand the extent of the problem during legislative sessions that resulted in the first funding cycle of $4 million to combat Eurasian Milfoil. The maps were also instrumental in building and implementing the first treatments on the lake conducted by Aquatechnex in 2006. Since that time, Mississippi State University has been conducting aquatic plant monitoring and mapping.

At the end of the 2008 treatment season, it was determined that a better understanding of exact conditions present in the system would be necessary to build the grant application and treatment program for 2009. After three years of management in this complex system, the milfoil populations have been signficantly reduced, but smaller more localized patches remain that need to be the focus of next year’s efforts.

Aquatechnex will use a combination of our Aerial Shoreline Analysis (ASA) technology and boat survery. We have received aerial imagery collected by the County in late October and digitized approximate aquatic plant bed coverage into a ArcGIS project file. We will also fly an ASA mission using our Nikon GPS camera system. This technology and our flight protocols result in high resolution GPS corrected digital images that move directly into ArcGIS where collected. We will then move onto the water with portable ArcGIS computers and correct the boundaries of the plant communities to submeter accuracy and key out the plant species present.

We will be working on the Lake and River the remainder of this week and early next week, bringing that data back to the mapping facility to create final maps and a report to the County.

Aquatechnex Summer Newsletter Available Online

aquatechnex — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 18:38:34 +0000

Each quarter or so Aquatechnex publishs and distributes an electronic newletter to the lake and aquatic plant mangement field. This letter arrives in your email if you subscribe to it. It highlights many of the new developments and news in our field. If you are not a subscriber, you can view it at http://newsletter.baron-co.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=public.home&id=10

You may also subcribe if you want to receive it when published by going to http://www.aquatechnex.com/newsletter.html

Hello world!

aquatechnex — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 19:37:53 +0000

Since 2004, Aquatechnex assisted the Bonner County Noxious Weed Department manage Eurasian Milfoil in Lake Pend Oreille and the Pend Oreille River. Our successful treatment program in 2006 remains one of the largest applications ever made west of the Mississippi River targeting this noxious weed. For more information, go to www.aquatechnex.com or http://www.co.bonner.id.us/publicworks/weeds.html