Weed Harvesting Goals

    GOAL

    The goal of the Lake Management District is to manage the lake so that it continues to be a valuable resource for recreation and wildlife habitat while allowing the homeowners to maintain and improve the value of their investments.

     
    STRATEGY

    Keep the impact of the weeds in balance. Manage the weeds so they allow recreational use of the lake while retaining the habitat required by wildlife.

    Weeds present two different challenges to recreation: excessive weeds and floating weeds. The district must balance their efforts to control these areas while avoiding approaches that destroy the natural aspects of the lake.

    It is more desirable to reduce the area cutting capacity in order to remove the floaters. We are attempting to develop a practice of cutting weeds while reducing floaters.

    The weed cutting crew needs the senior crewmember to be on the lake to direct and monitor the cutting process in real time. Often conditions dictate alternative tactics and on lake monitoring of the crew helps enforce the use of best practices.

     
    SUPERVISION

    1. The contractor will operate using the District Board?s direction and guidelines as communicated through either the board chairperson or the weed cutting committee chair.
    2. The crew will operate under the control and direction of the contractor. It is expected that the contractor will provide oversight of the crew during the cutting process.
    3. The Weed Cutting Committee is responsible for identifying problem areas and communicating this information to the contractor on a regular basis.
    4. All complaints and inquires should be directed through the weed cutting committee or board members. These will be directed to the contractor through the committee or board chairperson.

     
    LAKE ALLOCATION

    1. Whitewater Lake ? All equipment in use 3 weeks a month. The 4th week the 7-ft. cutter would not be used. 2. Rice Lake - To be cut on a once-monthly basis ? 5 days, if necessary. Recent documents support a 3 or 4 day .

     
    CUTTING

    1. The cutting should focus on the area from the piers out to the buoys plus high traffic areas that generate significant floaters.
    2. The weed committee chair will work with the contractor in developing cutting assignments to insure that the crew is working in the critical areas.
    3. The committee will maintain a process that allows it to gather information on conditions around the lake on a regular basis.
    4. We want all 3 cutters to cut in tandem ? that means following each other at a slight offset for the first 2 or 3 passes in a location. The offsets will pickup floaters from each machine in front. Separation between cutters should be at least 10 cutter lengths.
    5. The cutting process should consider the wind when planning the sequence of their cutting runs. By allowing the wind to blow the floaters into the path of the next run, the crew can reduce the number of floaters.
    6. After the first unloading of the machines, the 7ft cutter should go back to the initial area and follow the lines of floaters and pick them up.
    7. It is critical that machines run slowly to sever weeds but not pull out the weed by the root. It appears with the 10-ft. cutter at full-cutting depth, it should be 1400-1500 rpm and as the bar is raised for skimming, RPMs could be increased.
    8. ALWAYS have the cutter blade in the water.
    9. NEVER fill to capacity and head to the transporter or trailer discharge area. Rather plan ahead and raise the bar to skim floaters while heading to the discharge area. Also, skim floaters when returning empty to the designated cutting area.
    10. TO AVOID SITTING IDLE - if it appears all machines will fill at about the same time ? it is more acceptable to raise the bar and skim floaters in the previous cut area.
    11. WATCH overfilling of cutters as the weeds end up falling off the backside. Watch each other?s machine.
    12. ISLANDS ? When in South Lobe or across from Cruse Lane - allow time at the end of the day to skim/cut around islands.
    13. USE OF MARKER BUOYS in the South Lobe open water will help keep cutters lined up.
    14. WEARING POLARIZED SUN GLASSES makes it much easier to see floaters/weed lines because it eliminates glare from the water.
     
    UNLOADING

    1. CUTTER TO TRANSPORTER ? If there is a fall-off of weeds, it is the cutter operator?s responsibility to skim the discharge of floaters.
    2. CUTTER TO TRAILERS ? If there is a fall-off or spill, it is the truck driver?s responsibility to retrieve the fallen-off floaters) either immediately (best) or when returning empty. This will reduce floaters and not have near-by homeowner?s upset about leaving floaters. Homeowners do watch and they pay the contractor?s salary.
    3. On the last load from a pickup site, the driver should police the area, picking up weeds that are present in the shoreline area
     
    CLEANUP

    The end of the week, Fridays and possibly Thursday, should be spent cleaning up the lake for the weekend. The cleanup process will include:

    1. Collecting any floaters from areas where there is heavy concentration created by heavy cutting during the week.
    2. Collecting weeds from common collection areas:
         a. North end near Randy?s ? East Lake Shore to Cruse Lane
         b. South side of Ridge Rd. ? behind the islands off Woodchuck Alley West to Potato Bay
         c. North/west side of Ridge Rd. starting across from Parkside Marina to the East end of Ridge Rd.
         d. South Lobe
         e. The contractor will utilize a crew on the weed transport to pickup weeds on Saturday from the end of the pier. This process will start at 9:00.
    3. The crew should, if possible, pickup any weeds that are on the end of the piers on Friday. This process would reduce the time required on Saturday, allowing the crew to complete the task earlier.