DANBURY, CONN. — Specialists on the use of biological controls to contain the spread of milfoil weed infestation in Candlewood Lake will discuss “The Science of the Milfoil Weevil” at a seminar on Tuesday, June 22, at Western Connecticut State University.

The panel presentation, cosponsored by the WCSU “Science at Night” series, the Candlewood Lake Authority (CLA) and FirstLight Power Resources, will be at 7 p.m. in Room 125 of the Science Building on the university’s Midtown campus, 181 White St. in Danbury. Admission will be free and the public is invited to attend. A reception with light refreshments in the Science Building Atrium will follow the program.

Seminar participants will include Dr. Mitch Wagener, professor of biological and environmental sciences at WestConn; Nancy Cushing, program manager and scientist at the Ohio-based ecological consulting firm EnviroScience; and Dr. Michelle Marko, assistant professor of biology at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn.

EnviroScience, which pioneered use of milfoil weevil implantation as a tool for control of the pest aquatic weed at lakes in the Northeast and Midwest, donated an initial population of about 9,000 weevil eggs established during summer 2008 on milfoil stems at three underwater test sites in waters at the north end of Candlewood Lake near Sherman. Marko initiated study of weevil use as a potential tool for milfoil containment during her previous work as a scientist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES), and Cushing has participated in weevil stocking and followup surveys at Candlewood Lake. Wagener has coordinated the university’s participation in a research study to monitor whether milfoil weevil populations reach the critical numbers required to damage and ultimately destroy milfoil stems.

Seasonal growth of thick milfoil beds near or at the lake surface during summer and early autumn months has caused serious disruption to boating, water sports and other recreational activities. The reservoir is owned and commercially managed by FirstLight Power Resources for the generation of hydroelectric power.

CLA Executive Director Larry Marsicano observed that CLA, CAES, WestConn and EnviroScience have joined forces over the past several years to explore the feasibility of utilizing the aquatic weevil as a means to attack Eurasian watermilfoil, a pest weed common to Candlewood and other lakes across Connecticut and much of the northern United States. He noted FirstLight implementations of deep drawdowns of the reservoir water level during the winter on a biennial frequency “have provided some relief to impaired recreational use of the lake, but that relief can be inconsistent.” The goal of the weevil project is to establish populations in sufficient quantity to allow “several life stages of the weevil to feed on milfoil, reduce its buoyancy, and thus keep milfoil beds thinned out” in the shallow waters along the 60-mile shoreline of Connecticut’s largest lake, he said.

For more information, visit the CLA website at www.candlewoodlakeauthority.org, or contact Marsicano at claexecdir@earthlink.net or (860) 354-6928.

 

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