Home » CK Local News » Erieau group aiming to eliminate invasive aquatic weed
Erieau group aiming to eliminate invasive aquatic weed
Eurasian watermilfoil
By Aaron Hall – Daily Post Editor
A community group in Erieau is hoping take care of a growing problem that exists in Rondeau Bay.
Dean Jones, a member of the Erieau Partnership Association, said the Eurasian watermilfoil is an invasive aquatic weed that exists on the surface of parts of Rondeau Bay, and other Lakes across North America.
“It spreads across the top of the water… and takes up huge parts of the Bay,” Jones told the Chatham-Kent Daily Post. “You can hardly drive a bought through it, it’s so thick.”
Jones said the Erieau Partnership Association is starting a fundraiser to help combat this problem. The group has their eyes on Ohio-based company Enviro Science Inc. to possibly provide a solution.
Enviro Science has developed a product called MiddFoil, which uses an aquatic beetle – Weevils – native to Canada and the northern US to combat the spread of Eurasian watermilfoil, Jone said.
According to the Enviro Science website based on eight years of intensive field application and more than 12 years of university research, MiddFoil has proven itself to be the only long-term, environmentally-friendly alternative to herbicides and mechanical harvesting for large scale infestations.
“The Weevils only eat this type of weed,” Jones said, adding that the small beetles have been utilized in other of lakes in Ontario, including one in Cambridge.
Jones said the Erieau Partnership Association is hoping to raise money to fund a test site in Rondeau Bay. He said the group is aiming to purchase 4,000 of the Weevils, at a cost of about $1.20 each.
He said Enviro Science would visit the area, in order to select a proper test site, which would be approximately 200 to 300 square metres in size.
“They’re the experts… we would basically be acting as the sponsors,” he said.
Jones said he is hoping to raise the necessary funds, approximately $5,000, by the third week of June, in order for the test site and period to take place this summer.
“If we can only raise $2,000 or $3,000 by then… we’ll put the money away and wait until next year,” he said. “We’re really hoping to get the test site completed this year… so we can see if we want to move forward on more of a larger scale.”
Jones said anyone interested in donating money towards this initiative can send a cheque to the Erieau Partnership Association, care of Mary Anne Patterson, Box. 226 Erieau Ontario, N0P 1N0.
For more information, people can call Jones, during the day at 519-359-1609 or in the evening at 519-676-7177.
Check out the video below too from the Enviro Science website, which provides more information on the Eurasian watermilfoil and the Middfoil as well.
Stephanie Jacklin
May 26, 2010 at 4:45 pm
Thank goodness! Was out in Erieau this past weekend and the stench coming from these weeds that have washed up and died out along the break-walls is unbearable. Further to that, trying to boat from Erieau to Rondeau last summer resulted in us stopping about ten times at various points across the bay to pull the weeds off the motor. By the end of the summer we had discovered a few thin ‘channels’ around the bay that enabled you to get from point A to point B only stopping 5 times. Makes sailing quite difficult. And really doesn’t do wonders for the tourist communities surrounding the bay.
Joel
May 26, 2010 at 4:52 pm
maybe they should market it as medicinal-use aquatic weed….
Sally Joyce
May 27, 2010 at 9:01 am
Too bad we can’t convince someone to start a business collecting and then composting the stuff. Bagging it up and then selling it to gardeners would make a profit, rather than having to raise money to give Weevils a job.
Harry
May 27, 2010 at 11:19 am
The main reason for all these aquatic weeds is due to run-off from homes and sewers. Progress has its price.
Common Sense
June 2, 2010 at 11:48 am
Are you suggesting a sewer system be established for Erieau, Rondeau, Bates, Shrewsbury to ensure wasterwater is collected and treated properly prior to entering the watershed? I think that was just tried in Bothwell. Now how well did that go…hmmm. I think the weeds will be there for a while.
Jim in Wallaceburg
June 2, 2010 at 12:46 pm
And the Ontario Ministry of the Environment will likely step into the Bothwell sewage situation and issue a Provincial Officer’s Order for a solution that is even more expensive than what Chatham-Kent had proposed. A similar situation exists in certain parts of Chatham-Kent nears the shores of Lake Erie that the municipality has been aware of for years and Environmental Services has investigated due to high e.coli levels at pubic beaches which provincial legislation requires the municipality to monitor. We all have a responsibility to ensure that Great Lakes are not treated like a public toilet.
Dr. Simmons
September 20, 2010 at 8:43 am
It was JUST TRIED give it some time. I believe you are right Harry. Let’s get a sewer system in Erieau.
Candice Barlow
June 2, 2010 at 11:15 am
Perhaps we shouldn’t interfere with Mother Nature’s solution- evolution. Seems each time we humans try to tip the balance, we end up with unknown and unanticipated consequences.
Will Enviro Inc. assure liability for the unanticipated?
bess
June 3, 2010 at 11:59 am
maybe we could drill for oil? that’s natural, Look what it did for the gulf!
the weeds need to go. They stink. They are dangerous if you boat and get caught up in them and they are a weed that imvades. Farm sewage and chemical runnoff is a big problem for the bay and the lakeshore. WE all know it but prefer to turn a bilnd political eye. Clean water has to start on shore. If you drove the Erieau road recently , you would see where muck is piled by the lowest point along a field where any rain would run it into the ditch alongside, before it get spread out. This outweighs any toilets by far.
WhyMeLord
June 3, 2010 at 12:56 pm
Let’s not get to hasty in blaming the farmers alone. How many homes in the Rondeau Bay watershed, or any other watershed in Canada for that matter, are serviced by their own septic systems that are 20, 30, 40, 50 or even more years old and have never been maintained, let alone even close to today’s system standards. How many old homes have sewer lines going directy into the nearby ditch without even going through any kind of septic system? I’ll be that it’s a lot more than anybody cares to admit. Call the LTVCA. I’m sure they’d be able to tell you.
bess
June 3, 2010 at 12:10 pm
Maybe we could drill for oil? that’s natural, Look what it did for the gulf!
The weeds need to go. They are dangerous if you boat and get caught up in them ,plus they are a weed that invades. Bravo for someone trying to do something.
Farm sewage and chemical runnoff is a big problem for the bay and the lakeshore. WE all know it but prefer to turn a bilnd political eye. Clean water has to start on shore. If you drove the Erieau road recently , you would see where muck is piled by the lowest point along a field where any rain would run it into the ditch alongside, before it get spread out. This is only one very easily noted example which outweighs any toilets by far. It was not that long ago, we had pig manure closing our beaches.
accountability seems to only happen when you get caught.
Pro Active Approach
August 28, 2010 at 9:06 am
We all want the same end results, for the invasive weeds to be controlled. We need to focus on fund raisers that will help to fund this project. Also making sure that the solution to solve the problem are the very best. Jones said anyone interested in donating money towards this initiative can send a cheque to the Erieau Partnership Association, care of Mary Anne Patterson, Box. 226 Erieau Ontario, N0P 1N0.
For more information, people can call Jones, during the day at 519-359-1609 or in the evening at 519-676-7177.
Dr. Simmons
September 20, 2010 at 8:40 am
The entire Erie Beach,Eriau, Rondeau area is too heavily populated not to have a modern sewer system. This area has tons of potential and it would flourish if the residents would step up to the plate and make this happen. We would all see a tremendous difference in the aquatic quality.