Waters of Smith Cove said to be clearest in many years

Peter Morrisette of the Glendale Cove Association said yesterday that the second phase of the assault on milfoil will begin next week when divers survey the results of last month's chemical treatment and remove the remaining plants by hand.

Morrissette counted the chemical treatment, when the herbicide 2, 4 D was applied, a success. Merrill Fay of Fay's Boatyard said that for the first time in a decade the water off the fueling dock was clear enough to recover gas caps that were inadvertently dropped into the cove. Likewise, Bob Ruggiero of the Inn at Smith Cove reported seeing fish off the dock for the first time in ten years. "The water has not been so clear for years," Morrissette said.

Morrissette said that Mark Richardson and Chuck Tharp, both of whom are certified as weed control divers by the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES), will map the milfoil remaining in the cove on Sunday or Monday, depending on the weather, and with other divers begin removing the plants that remain.

The divers will work with a boat fitted with vacuum tubes that will bring the plants uprooted by the divers to the surface. Jody Connor of DES said that the boat, together with the program for training and certifying divers, was supported by a federal grant of $1-million to control milfoil secured through the efforts of Senator Judd Gregg.

Richardson said the project was an opportunity for divers. "Its a short diving window here and they're always looking for an excuse to get out," he said. "With this they get to dive, to get wet."

Morrissette said that the association has a $30,000 budget to address the milfoil in Smith Cove and has raised all but $4,000 of its target. The chemical treatment cost $12,575, half of which was defrayed by a grant for the Exotic Species Program at DES.

Morrissette estimated that hand-pulling operations in July and September would cost another $8,000 to $11,000 depending on how much milfoil is found when the cove is mapped. Moreover, he said the association carried forward a deficit from 2006 when plans to treat the cove with 2, 4 D became ensnared in a lengthy appeal process and were ultimately abandoned when several residents challenged the use of chemical herbicides.

The effort has been funded with contributions from businesses, residents and government. Fay's Boatyard, Glendale Yacht Club and Gilford Yacht Club chipped in $2,000 apiece and the Inn at Smith Cove gave another $1,350. Morrissette said that many residents around the cove donated $425 and owners of boat slips gave anywhere from $25 to $425. Morrissette said that he was especially grateful to the voters of Gilford who agreed to appropriate $10,000 to the Conservation Commission for the control of exotic species.

Connor said that the measures taken at Smith Cove, which are the first of a a five-year management plan to reduce and control the milfoil that covered 25 of the 30 acres of the cove, represent the most extensive undertaking of its kind on Lake Winnipesaukee.