OROVILLE – The first summer of milfoil applications under the new Lake Management District (LMD) have been completed. There were four separate locations where these applications took place. All were in areas were areas that had not been previously treated for milfoil.

Going from south to north areas treated were: 3.42 acres in the Okanogan River opposite Fir Street and Golden Street on the east side of the channel; 6.75 acres just north of Oroville’s Veterans Memorial Park down past the boat ramp; 3.5 acres just south of Oro Beach past Nine Mile Creek and finally, 28.24 acres on the northwest side of the lake next to the border in Turtle Bay south towards the midpoint Boundary Point area.

All of these areas had very dense areas of milfoil and curly leaf pondweed. This was the first time a treatment has been done in what is called the “Buffer Zone,” which is within 1000ft of the actual border, according to Ford Waterstrat, with the Lake Osoyoos Association.

“This is a significant accomplishment do to much effort on behalf of Anna Lyons of the Okanogan County Noxious Weed Board,” said Waterstrat in the LAO’s August newsletter.

“In this first year of the LMD, close to a total of 42 Acres were treated. We hope that next year the total acreage treated will increase as there will be additional money from both the October and April assessments together,” he adds. “We are well on the way to significantly decreasing the impact of aquatic invasive weeds in the lake and will continue this effort for the next four years in addition to improving the overall water quality in the lake.”