Copyright berkshireeagle
LANESBOROUGH — Lee Hauge has lived on Pontoosuc Lake for 60 years and as this town’s harbormaster, he takes an interest in the health of the lake. “This is the worst that it’s been in 20 years,” Hauge told The Eagle. He was referring not just to the massive growth of Eurasian milfoil, but also to the presence of three other invasives — curly leaf pond weed, water chestnut, and spiny naiad — and to the presence of eDNA of zebra mussels, a possible indication that yet another invasive may be present in the lake. Plus, there’s a cyanobacteria bloom on Pontoosuc right now. That’s blue-green algae, which is dangerous to swim in, particularly to children and dogs. While few would venture into the lake attractive in late October, the algae bloom is still of concern. Hauge approached the Select Board last week to discuss his frustrations regarding control of weeds on the lake. He was joined by several residents who live on the 500-acre lake. Hauge specifically complained about the limitations placed by the Lanesborough Conservation Commission, whose 2023 order of conditions placed 59 conditions on the treatment of weeds. This year weeds were chemically treated with diquat just once, in May, although two other chemicals are allowed. Diquat is a liquid herbicide kills the plant but not the roots of perennials. Since Pontoosuc Lake lies both in Pittsfield and Lanesborough, the Pittsfield Conservation Commission also has jurisdiction over weed treatment and, accodingly, has placed its own order of conditions, separate and different from Lanesborough’s. Pittsfield Harbormaster Jim McGrath points out that the umbrella legislation governing conservation commissions doesn’t allow them to consider a chief component of lake usage. “Nowhere in the Wetlands Protection Act is the word recreation,” McGrath said. As Pittsfield’s park, open space and natural resource program manager, he’s acutely aware of that. “The recreation perspective often is the challenging one, because there's not a lot of consideration given around recreational interests.” Jim Conant is chair of the Pittsfield Conservation Commission. He’s open to working with Lanesborough Conservation Commission on forming a mirroring order of conditions for weed treatment at Pontoosuc Lake, though he’s not sure how and when it would happen. But he pointed out that Pittsfield and Richmond’s conservaation commissions are working together to form an order of conditions for Richmond Pond. “Lake management has become very complicated,” Conant said. “We have vegetation control. We have zebra mussel control. We have drawdow, lake drawdown standards that are getting tighter and tighter every year.” On Oct. 15, drawdowns at both Pontoosuc and Onota lakes began. This year, Pontoosuc will be drawn down 36 inches below the spillway. Onota will be brought down 24 inches. Both drawdowns are set to finish on Dec. 1. Daniel Miraglia, who serves on the board of Berkshire County League of Sportsmen, said 25 or 30 years ago, Pontoosuc Lake parking lots were jammed with bass fishermen. “That's all ended,” Miraglia said. He's critical of the way the lakes are managed now. He’d also like to see them managed for wildlife, beyond fisheries. Drawdowns have consequences on other wildlife. “You're also impacting all your backwater estuaries, which is all your all your mammals, all your beavers, all your turtles, all your reptiles.” Lanesborough Conservation Commission Chair Courtney Dondi could not be reached for comment.
