It’s a pesky invasive plant that poses a threat to the local ecosystem.
Milfoil can be detrimental to water quality and fish habitat.
Waterfront property owner Norm Gaumont heads the Vaseux Lake Stewardship Association.
He said residents have organized their own shoreline clean ups in the past but the problem got so bad in the summer of 2016 that they asked for the government’s help.
“We’ve seen huge milfoil brought onto shore within it a dozen dead salmon within the milfoil all wrapped in it,” he said. “So it’s not good for the fish life, it’s not good for the natural plant in this lake, and it makes it impossible for fishermen to fish.”
Milfoil can also pose a public safety hazard.
This summer a West Kelowna man said he almost drowned after getting entangled in milfoil in Okanagan Lake.
“If you have younger children in particular that end up entangled in the milfoil where it is actually very thick, it’s a danger,” Gaumont added.
“We’re the only lake in the Okanagan basin right now that isn’t being treated for the milfoil and we think it is long overdue.”
Gaumont wants the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen to fund a rototiller machine, which is used to pull milfoil from the lake bottom.
It’s commonly used on Okanagan’s largest lakes, but it’s never been done on Vaseux Lake.
The Okanagan Basin Water Board would conduct the weed control, but said disturbing the bottom of the lake for the first time requires provincial permits and environmental considerations.
Operations manager James Littley said a big concern is the potential for heavy metals like lead and arsenic to be released from the sediment.
“Down in the south Okanagan there is a lot of agriculture, fertilizers and pesticides and things so they can make their way into the lake but also just from road traffic,” he said.
That could hurt water quality in Vaseaux Lake and even downstream in Osoyoos Lake.
The board is conducting studies before taking action.
“Generally we will start rototilling on an annual basis as soon as possible and that will reduce the density of the milfoil in the lake and it will be a long-term control operation,” Littley said.
But local residents are growing impatient and are hoping the work will be done by next summer to avoid stirring up more frustration.
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