Search for endangered plants may delay use of Netcong = lake

Officials worry survey will put off weed harvesting

By Michael Daigle =95 Daily Record = =95 June 16,=20 2008

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Lake Musconetcong has countless weeds and most of them = are slowly=20 strangling the shallow, man-made body of water.

But among the tangle might be three endangered plant = species,=20 according to state officials, who want the lakebed searched = before=20 the weeds get cut.

Local officials were worried the survey might delay the = weed=20 harvesting, which is needed both to preserve the lake and = for=20 boaters and swimmers to enjoy the water, but now both are = expected=20 to be done at the end of this month.

Lake exam

Last week Douglas Zellman, chairman of the Lake = Musconetcong=20 Regional Planning Board, maneuvered a small boat through the = thick=20 lily pads and shallow water so that Robynn Shannon, a Ramapo = College=20 botanist, could examine the lake's plants.

Shannon was hired by the planning board to search for the = three=20 endangered plants -- water marigold, whorled water milfoil = and=20 Robbin's pondweed -- that a state database indicated were = found in=20 the lake in the 1950s. A report by state natural heritage = botanist=20 David Snyder indicated that at least one of the rare plants = has been=20 found recently in the lake.

Shannon said she believes it's unlikely that the water = marigold=20 or whorled milfoil are left anywhere in the state, but it's = possible=20 that Robbin's pondweed can be found.

Zellman said that the planning board was concerned that = DEP would=20 halt or delay the weed harvesting that is done annually to = check the=20 spread of an aggressive non-native water plant, Eurasian = milfoil,=20 that clogs lakes and ponds across the country.

DEP spokeswoman Elaine Makatura said that the annual weed = harvesting on the lake would be scheduled after the results = of=20 Shannon's survey are studied. Information in the study could = affect=20 how the weed harvesting is done, but would not stop it, she=20 said.

The results of the survey are due at the end of June, = when the=20 weed harvesting is scheduled to begin.

Makatura said the survey of Lake Mustconetcong that = turned up the=20 potential existence of the three rare plants is part of a = statewide=20 process to update the natural heritage database, which in = turn is=20 part of an international set of endangered species databases = that=20 are continuously updated.

The lake

Lake Musconetcong is surrounded by four municipalities: = Netcong=20 and Roxbury in Morris County and Stanhope and Byram in = Sussex=20 County. The four towns and the two counties contribute to = the=20 regional planning board's annual budget.

The lake was formed in the mid-1800s when the = Musconetcong River=20 was dammed by the builders of the Morris Canal to supply = water. The=20 river flows from Lake Hopatcong to the Delaware River and = forms a=20 large section of the border between Morris and Warren = counties.

In May, the DEP approved $45,000 for three years of weed=20 harvesting in Lake Musconetcong. Zellman said that the board = members=20 run the weed harvester as volunteers.

Last year, the board funded 680 hours of weeding that = removed=20 4,008 cubic yards of weeds.

DEP orders a survey

Zellman said the DEP order to survey the lake surprised = the board=20 members since the state agency did not contact them until = April. He=20 said they also were concerned that the DEP would want = additional=20 surveys that could halt the weed harvesting or delay it so = long that=20 it would have no impact.

The 330-acre lake is already showing weed growth, he = said.

Shannon said that it takes water longer than land to warm = up=20 enough for good plant growth, but that could be less of a = factor=20 with Lake Musconetcong because it is so shallow. She said = two other=20 surveys are planned, one over the summer and the third in = the fall=20 after the weeds die back. They will search for anything that = is on=20 the state list of endangered plants, she said.

Zellman said that water in the lake's coves average less = than 2=20 feet deep, and the middle of the lake averages 3 to 4 feet = deep.=20 Sunlight can penetrate to 10 feet, he said, which helps = plants grow=20 under water.

Only in the middle of the lake is the water blue and = clear=20 looking. The coves have greenish water and many plants. = Yards and=20 yards of water lilies with white blooms overlap on the = water's=20 surface and green algae fills the spaces.

Underwater, the lake's nemesis, Eurasian milfoil, grows = and=20 tangles, filling nearly all the space between the mucky lake = bottom=20 and the water surface. There is a slight aroma of decaying=20 plants.

Lifting an oar draped in green and brown weeds, Zellman = said=20 boaters can not use outboard motors in the coves because the = plants=20 tangle around the propellers.

He also said the weed harvester operators find many large = dead=20 pickerel, some 22 inches or larger, tangled in the weeds. = The fish=20 like to feed in weedy, shallow water, but the milfoil is so = thick,=20 they become entangled.

Shannon said Eurasian milfoil is an aggressive, = non-native plant=20 that has been in U.S. water bodies since the 1800s. In = modern times=20 it became a popular home aquarium plant and likely was = dumped into=20 lakes and ponds by some people who were getting rid of their = aquariums.

"Once a non-native species enters the water system, it = spreads=20 easily because the system is all connected," Shannon = said.

Dredging the lake

Zellman said the long-term goal of the planning board is = to=20 dredge the lake to a depth of 12 feet.

That would provide enough depth to hamper the growth of = milfoil,=20 he said.

The cost of the dredging would be offset by the sale of = the=20 material removed from the lake, he said.

"The lake is 3 to 4 feet deep, and measurements show = there is 7=20 to 9 feet of silt," Zellman said. "Siltation accounts for 80 = percent=20 of the lake's volume."

Beneath the silt is peat, he said, which could be used as = peat=20 moss or as an ingredient in top soil.

The quality of the peat could be a factor in the cost of = the=20 dredging, he said.

"The weed harvesting is just a holding action," Zellman = said.=20 "What is needed a action that would solve the problem. Why = not let=20 us fix the lake and reintroduce the rare plants?" he = asked.

The towns around the lake are mostly sewered and have = rules in=20 place that call for use of low-phosphorus fertilizer, and = the=20 planning board is seeking funds for a drainage and filtering = project=20 designed to reduce the storm runoff that enters the lake, = Zellman=20 said.

What is lost with the lake in such poor condition is the = social=20 aspect that it once brought to the towns, he said.

Local children hear their grandparents tell about fishing = and=20 swimming in Lake Musconetcong, but they are unable to fish = or swim=20 because of the weeds, he said.

"We're trying to repair 100 years of damage," Zellman = said.

Michael Daigle can be reached at (973) 267-7947 = or at mdaigle@gannett.com.

Search for endangered plants may delay use of Netcong = lake