By Doug Fletcher,Staff Writer

AUBURN – There’s no quick fix to the invasive milfoil that’s spreading across the bottom of Lake Auburn.

Yanking the plant out by hand is labor-intensive and can leave bits behind that will root and spread again. It also results in excessive silt being churned into the water, which is Auburn and Lewiston’s public drinking supply, say those who are dealing with the problem.

The trouble with milfoil at Lake Auburn is that it’s so widespread, said Jackey Bailey of Poland, who is earning a master’s degree in environmental science at the University of Maine. She’s studying eradication methods best suited to ridding the lake of the non-native weed that chokes out native plants, some of which act as nurseries for fish.

The plant appears to have surged this summer.

Bailey and Mary Jane Dillingham, water quality manager for the Twin Cities, speculate that a combination of high water in the spring carrying nutrients along with lots of warm days and sunshine more recently prompted the growth spurt.

Bailey said it has also become clear that the plant is spreading in the lake, possibly helped along unknowingly by boaters. Their propellers cut the plant then churn it through the waters to new locations. The cuttings soon develop roots and another patch is started, Bailey said.

She has set out buoys in parts of the lake in North Auburn and has posted milfoil information on signs around the lake. The buoys mark the areas where she’s doing much of her study work.

“There’s lots of milfoil,” said Bailey. “It’s unreal.”

So unreal, she joked, “I look like Swamp Thing when I get out of the water.”

She’s hoping to be able to give the Lake Auburn Watershed Protection Commission a report next year that will provide options for milfoil control.

She said the best hope for control and eradication so far appears to be mats made of the same nearly impenetrable plastic-based material that contractors use to control erosion along highway projects.

For underwater use, the material comes in 10-square-foot sections with metal bars attached to it to provide weight to keep the mats in place. The bars also offer a means of rolling the mats up when its time to remove or relocate them.

Dillingham said there are 11 such mats in Lake Auburn now. They’ll be pulled, probably in October. That’s when the lake water will be cooling down and the milfoil turning dormant.

Bailey’s preliminary studies show that the mats are effective at killing milfoil plants, she said. They smother the plants and keep them from getting sunshine.

She intends to continue in-the-water research through October. She’ll crunch numbers over the winter, then provide the commission with her findings.

Dillingham, however, expects the milfoil eradication effort to be an ongoing project.

“We’re going to be doing this forever,” she said.

Divers wanted

Jackey Bailey, a graduate student doing milfoil research at Lake Auburn and other bodies of water in Maine, is looking for volunteer divers to assist her.

Because underwater research can be risky, divers should always go underwater in pairs. Bailey needs “buddies” to help her in her studies. She can be reached via e-mail: jackeybailey@yahoo.com.

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