Joe's Pond Association has formed a Eurasian Watermilfoil Committee in support of JPA efforts to contain and, if possible, eliminate the current infestation of EWM.
EWM Committee members and the elements of the committee work for which they are responsible:
EWM Committee members and the elements of the committee work for which they are responsible:
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Feedback and suggestions from the JPA membership and the wider Joe's Pond community is welcome and encouraged.
Please contact: Barry Cahoon, Joe Hebert, or Jamie Stewart. |
Milfoil Meeting Minutes - September 15, 2026
Attendees: Jamie Stewart Barry Cahoon, Pat Rubalcaba, Sue Bouchard, Christy Burns
Barry called the meeting to order at 3:03 pm. The Zoom meeting was hosted by Jamie Stewart (who had no sound).
Review Fall JPA meeting - Barry asked for feedback about the Fall meeting. Was there anything his presentation could have done better? The meeting was well attended. Christy said she heard nothing but good comments. Sue also said the presentation went over well and the members are more knowledgeable due to the milfoil committee efforts.
Review Pot Luck Dinner - There was a great turn-out and the community was well represented. Aside from the committee members there was a contingent of Boat launch greeters, DASH meal suppliers, harvesters, boat support crew, and kayakers. Everyone felt that we have a good and supportive community.
EWM Harvesting Report - The following was submitted by Jim Bernotas:
I will be traveling on the day of the meeting, but I wanted to share a few thoughts and updates:
- Channel Monitoring: We will continue to monitor the channel for the rest of this season, at least until the milfoil becomes too brittle to handle.
- Barrier Removal: Scheduled to take place by early October.
- Milfoil Identification: Next spring, we should conduct some training on milfoil identification.
- Inlet Survey: Early next season, before the lily pads reach the surface, we should intensely survey the inlet, possibly using GPS to track our coverage.
Additionally, should we consider SNUBAing Hackett's Cove before it gets too cold?
Discussion within the meeting centered on the window of time we have to visibly see the milfoil before the water lilies come up. This is in mid-May. From the harvesting experience up in the very shallow inlet channel and the 14 kayakers that showed up - it is evident we need more training for the people to be comfortable in identifying milfoil. This has to be ‘in the water’ training. Too many kayakers were not comfortable in identifying the plant. May could be too soon to see the growing plants. With respect to inspecting Hackett’s cove, Christy said that the Penars check their area well and are knowledgeable in identifying milfoil.
Rob Stewart sent in the following comment:
One thing I wanted to add to the mix:
Talking with Jane Segale, she said they had some success using a paddle board to survey and pull milfoil from the shallow sections of the mouth of the channel. Being higher up on the paddle board, it was easier for her to view the milfoil growing. And she was able to lay down on the paddle board and use the full length of her arm to pull milfoil gently from the shallow section of the channel. Yes, the paddle board has a fin that could disturb the sediments - but my thinking is that this paddle board technique could be the least invasive approach to survey and pull EWM from the shallow sections (compared to diving or kayaking).
It was very evident that the kayaks had a tough time pushing through the water lilies. The focus for the rest of the harvesting season is to:
Post Treatment Monitoring - The lab results of the second samples all showed <1ppb and so no further testing required. Barry said that the bottles he sent for arrived too late but so be it. These bottles have to be thrown out because there is a preservative in the bottle with a shelf life. Barry will follow up with Olin Reed as to why we test every 24 hours if the first sample fails when the State lifts all water restrictions 24 hours after the application.
Buoy and warning Signs - They will be picked up in the 1st and 2nd ponds after 9/26. The signs are stored in the pavilion and there is a rental on 9/26.
Other Items in Harvesting - Tom Segale went out to check on the PC treated area. All of the plants were brown and bending down. Arrowwood Environmental will wait until 3 to 4 weeks after application before conducting the required survey. Michael Lew-Smith wants to be sure the chemical has been fully absorbed.
Vegetation Study by Scott Burns: The following was written by Scott:
In order to more quantitatively understand: 1) the effectiveness of using the approved herbicide ProcellaCOR on eradicating EWM in Joe's Pond, and 2) it's impacts on native plant species of concern, a long-term aquatic vegetation monitoring program has been initiated.
The monitoring plan consists of placing four, 1 meter sand filled PVC squares (called quadrats), over pre-selected bottom aquatic plant areas in ponds 1 and 2, to monitor diversification of plant species, abundance, sustainability, and growth/senescences conditions, within the quadrats over time. A fifth site, located near the public boat launch in pond 3 not treated with ProcellaCOR, will be used as a control to monitor background plant conditions and changes for comparative purposes.
Each of the four PC monitoring quadrats contain EWM and native plant species of concern (such as native milfoil species and yellow and white water lilies). The control site quadrat contains only native species without any EWM within or surrounding the site. High resolution digital photographs will be taken periodically at all the sites to document the species present, numbers of each species, and changes in plant sizes and biomass over time.
The resulting data will be useful in quantitatively assessing short and long term impacts of ProcellaCOR on EWM and native plants in Joe's Pond and inform future EWM eradication strategies and actions.
Boat Wash Facility - Barry reported that Jeff Parsons of Arrowwood Environmental is attempting to coordinate a meeting with ANR Wetlands and Fish & Wildlife and the JPA to discuss the facility and the potential for an issuance of a Wetlands Permit. No date has yet been set.
Other Items - Pat Rubalcaba mentioned that she will need the volunteer hour reports to start compiling the data for next season’s grants.
Next Meeting - Tuesday October 13, 2026 at 3:00 pm
Respectively submitted:
Jamie Stewart
Barry called the meeting to order at 3:03 pm. The Zoom meeting was hosted by Jamie Stewart (who had no sound).
Review Fall JPA meeting - Barry asked for feedback about the Fall meeting. Was there anything his presentation could have done better? The meeting was well attended. Christy said she heard nothing but good comments. Sue also said the presentation went over well and the members are more knowledgeable due to the milfoil committee efforts.
Review Pot Luck Dinner - There was a great turn-out and the community was well represented. Aside from the committee members there was a contingent of Boat launch greeters, DASH meal suppliers, harvesters, boat support crew, and kayakers. Everyone felt that we have a good and supportive community.
EWM Harvesting Report - The following was submitted by Jim Bernotas:
I will be traveling on the day of the meeting, but I wanted to share a few thoughts and updates:
- Channel Monitoring: We will continue to monitor the channel for the rest of this season, at least until the milfoil becomes too brittle to handle.
- Barrier Removal: Scheduled to take place by early October.
- Milfoil Identification: Next spring, we should conduct some training on milfoil identification.
- Inlet Survey: Early next season, before the lily pads reach the surface, we should intensely survey the inlet, possibly using GPS to track our coverage.
Additionally, should we consider SNUBAing Hackett's Cove before it gets too cold?
Discussion within the meeting centered on the window of time we have to visibly see the milfoil before the water lilies come up. This is in mid-May. From the harvesting experience up in the very shallow inlet channel and the 14 kayakers that showed up - it is evident we need more training for the people to be comfortable in identifying milfoil. This has to be ‘in the water’ training. Too many kayakers were not comfortable in identifying the plant. May could be too soon to see the growing plants. With respect to inspecting Hackett’s cove, Christy said that the Penars check their area well and are knowledgeable in identifying milfoil.
Rob Stewart sent in the following comment:
One thing I wanted to add to the mix:
Talking with Jane Segale, she said they had some success using a paddle board to survey and pull milfoil from the shallow sections of the mouth of the channel. Being higher up on the paddle board, it was easier for her to view the milfoil growing. And she was able to lay down on the paddle board and use the full length of her arm to pull milfoil gently from the shallow section of the channel. Yes, the paddle board has a fin that could disturb the sediments - but my thinking is that this paddle board technique could be the least invasive approach to survey and pull EWM from the shallow sections (compared to diving or kayaking).
It was very evident that the kayaks had a tough time pushing through the water lilies. The focus for the rest of the harvesting season is to:
- Concentrate manpower in the inlet channel
- Focus SCUBA/SNUBA in the downstream plume of the inlet channel
- Remove the benthic barriers of 2024 and 2025
Post Treatment Monitoring - The lab results of the second samples all showed <1ppb and so no further testing required. Barry said that the bottles he sent for arrived too late but so be it. These bottles have to be thrown out because there is a preservative in the bottle with a shelf life. Barry will follow up with Olin Reed as to why we test every 24 hours if the first sample fails when the State lifts all water restrictions 24 hours after the application.
Buoy and warning Signs - They will be picked up in the 1st and 2nd ponds after 9/26. The signs are stored in the pavilion and there is a rental on 9/26.
Other Items in Harvesting - Tom Segale went out to check on the PC treated area. All of the plants were brown and bending down. Arrowwood Environmental will wait until 3 to 4 weeks after application before conducting the required survey. Michael Lew-Smith wants to be sure the chemical has been fully absorbed.
Vegetation Study by Scott Burns: The following was written by Scott:
In order to more quantitatively understand: 1) the effectiveness of using the approved herbicide ProcellaCOR on eradicating EWM in Joe's Pond, and 2) it's impacts on native plant species of concern, a long-term aquatic vegetation monitoring program has been initiated.
The monitoring plan consists of placing four, 1 meter sand filled PVC squares (called quadrats), over pre-selected bottom aquatic plant areas in ponds 1 and 2, to monitor diversification of plant species, abundance, sustainability, and growth/senescences conditions, within the quadrats over time. A fifth site, located near the public boat launch in pond 3 not treated with ProcellaCOR, will be used as a control to monitor background plant conditions and changes for comparative purposes.
Each of the four PC monitoring quadrats contain EWM and native plant species of concern (such as native milfoil species and yellow and white water lilies). The control site quadrat contains only native species without any EWM within or surrounding the site. High resolution digital photographs will be taken periodically at all the sites to document the species present, numbers of each species, and changes in plant sizes and biomass over time.
The resulting data will be useful in quantitatively assessing short and long term impacts of ProcellaCOR on EWM and native plants in Joe's Pond and inform future EWM eradication strategies and actions.
Boat Wash Facility - Barry reported that Jeff Parsons of Arrowwood Environmental is attempting to coordinate a meeting with ANR Wetlands and Fish & Wildlife and the JPA to discuss the facility and the potential for an issuance of a Wetlands Permit. No date has yet been set.
Other Items - Pat Rubalcaba mentioned that she will need the volunteer hour reports to start compiling the data for next season’s grants.
Next Meeting - Tuesday October 13, 2026 at 3:00 pm
Respectively submitted:
Jamie Stewart
Past Meeting Minutes: