Spring Mat Removal Work is Underway

Today is day 3 of removing Asian clam mats from the Lake. I'm sure the divers are liking this weather better than the weather last November when they were finishing up installing the mats!

Removal work started earlier this week on Tuesday, with the mats at Diamond Cove being removed, and then yesterday and today most of the mats from Boon Bay are now out as well. The divers are finishing up in Boon Bay either late today or tomorrow, and will then be headed down to Lake George Village next.

A crew has also been out on the lake ahead of the mat removal divers, to collect dissolved oxygen samples from ports in the mats.  Samples were collected yesterday and the rest are being collected today.

We are also preparing to start surveying the treated areas after the mats are removed, to assess the success of the treatment based on the live and dead clams found. Those results will inform future planning - so be sure to stay tuned!  

Winter Carnival at Shepard Park on Lake George

Well - the ice is finally here and the Lake George Winter Carnival is in full swing on the weekends this month - including lots of great activities at Shepard's Park.  There are mats smothering Asian clams in the shallow water off the beach, and these mats extend up on the shore. But thanks to the hard work of Lake George Village -  the Winter Carnival activities and the Asian clam treatment are existing in harmony. 

The mats (which have sandbags and metal rebar on them)  have been blocked off for safety - so please be mindful of the fencing and steer clear. There is an opening provided with safe access available out onto the frozen lake - so just stick to that - and plenty of room in the park for all the other activities to continue as normal. So here's to another great Winter Carnival - and to killing lots of clams!

Asian Clam 2012 Fall Treatment Report Released

Asian Clam 2012 Fall Treatment Report Released: Benthic barrier mats in place over the winter to smother Asian clams

 The fall 2012 Asian clam treatment effort covered 6+ acres with benthic barriers weighted down with a substantial amount of rebar and sand bags. Mats were installed in 7 of 8 known locations with no fall treatment at the Norowal Marina site. Fall treatment efforts cost just over $400,000. A new fall treatment approach will leave the benthic barrier mats in through the winter expanding the treatment time from 45 days to over 150 days. Permits were secured to leave the mats in over the winter with removal scheduled for spring 2013. Once the mats are removed, the treatment areas will be re-surveyed to determine treatment success and these results will help inform the course of action for further 2013 efforts.

Click here for the complete press release.
Click here for the complete 2012 Fall Treatment Report.

7 acres of mats in the lake for the winter

The divers are done installing mats for the fall treatments.  Around 7 acres of mats have been installed at 7 locations around the lake. Work began in early October and wrapped up the first week of December.  The work was hard and extremely labor intensive and the water was cold - but the dive teams did a great job and the mats are looking good.  The mats have been weighted down heavily with extensive sand bags and rebar and will be left in place for the winter and removed in the spring. Monitoring and maintenance will be ongoing while the mats are in the water.

 Earlier this week, divers went out to begin to collect dissolved oxygen samples from beneath some of the mats to check on their progress of smothering the clams by depriving them of any oxygen.  Initial results are looking good. Dissolved oxygen will be checked again in the spring before the mats are removed. 


A detailed report on the fall treatment activities and status of Asian clams in Lake George will be available in early 2013. 

Fall treatment on track

installing mats at the north end of Boon Bay

The water is a chilly 50 degrees Celsius right now in the lake - but work is still underway.  Over 600 mats have been installed so far this fall in the lake to smother Asian clams.  The Lake Forest Aces site in Hague was finished the first week of November, so now all 4 of the new smaller sites have been matted completely.  The mats will be staying in over the winter and have been weighted down with around 600 lbs of weight per mat!  That's  40 pieces of 5' long #5 rebar and 10, 40 lb sandbags per mat. Some of the mats closer to shore have a lot more than 10 sandbags - in order to keep them down with the near shore waves. So - we are talking a lot of weight - and a lot of time and labor to install the mats. 

Divers have also finished up matting 'containment' areas at Boon Bay and Middleworth Bay, and are working in Lake George Village now.  Since we don't have the resources to mat the entire sites of these larger, older sites - we are working our best to contain their spread - and matting the ends of the infestations to keep them from spreading.  Work will continue into the first week of December.

Moving ahead with treatments

Divers are finishing up matting the 4th new site up in Hague at Lake Forest Acres with close to 200 mats total at that site while a second dive team has started working on matting the north and south edges of the Middleworth Bay site for containment.

lots of extra sandbags along the shoreline got these mats at Hague through the storm just fine.

Tropical storm Sandy caused a disruption in the treatment progress at the beginning of the week, but luckily it was not as bad as it could have been. The Hague site was fortified with lots of extra sand bags to try to combat the wind and waves, and made it through the storm alright.  Unfortunately the Diamond Cove site didn't weather the storm quite as well, with a few mats being torn up from the waves.  Luckily, this site is small to begin with, so the divers were able to get back in the water at the site after the storm and fix it back up, and we are back on track there as well.

Once the work at Hague is done, at the beginning of next week that dive team will be moving down to start working at the north end of the Lake George Village site, just south of the English Brook delta.

Fall Treatment Work Continues

divers working at Diamond Cove

Fall treatment work continued last week and this week on the lake. Shelving Rock Bay has been matted with a total of 287 mats covering almost 1.5 acres so far. Moving the heavy materials across the lake by boats and high winds made this tough work last week. 

installing mats at Diamond Dove

Diamond Cove has now also been matted with 49 mats - this area was much smaller and only about 1/3 acre and was treated earlier this week.

So far 3 of the 4 newly found sites have been matted.  The divers have moved to the north end of the lake and are now working at the 4th site - the Lake Forest site just south of the Town launch and beach in Hague. 

As of Oct 24, 418 mats have been installed in the lake for the fall treatment, and we still have a whole lot more to go- so stay tuned for progress updates over the next few weeks.