Lake Banook, Lake Micmac weeds to be tackled Monday
Heavy weed growth has interfered with paddling on the lakes in previous seasons
A mechanical weed harvester will be back on Lake Banook and Lake Micmac in Dartmouth, N.S., on Monday.
Last year during a pilot project, contractors removed around 37,400 kilograms of weeds from the lakes over 10 days.
Three-year contract
"We want to try this over multiple seasons to see if we can have an impact on the regrowth," said Shannon Miedema, Halifax Regional Municipality's energy and environment program manager.
"So we just issued a contract for three years."
Stantec Consulting will handle the monitoring and Natural Ocean Products will do the harvesting, she said. The cost of both services over the three years is expected to be around $573,900, the municipality said.
No impact on races
Up to four weeks of harvesting is scheduled to take place on weekdays during business hours, and it's not expected to interfere with scheduled race events, Miedema said.
"That's a requirement for the contractors," she said. "The Atlantic CanoeKayak group have been subcontracted to help deal with the community because they are a major steward of the lake."
World-class paddling
Lake Banook is home to a world-class paddling course and three paddling clubs.
Rowers and dragon boats are on the lakes on a daily basis from the spring to the fall. In the past, heavy weed growth has interfered with recreational activities on the lakes.
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