Department of Ecology updating lake treatment permit

MEDICAL LAKE – The state Department of Ecology is proposing “three major” changes to its permit that allows lake managers to use pesticides and chemicals to treat noxious weeds and algae such as Eurasian milfoil.

“Very often… the most effective way to treat it is to use a pesticide to initially melt it down and then go with hand pulling or harvesting to keep the population down after the pesticide treatment,” Water quality general permits supervisor Nate Lubliner said. “It’s really the fact that we’ve got that tool while still protecting water quality for human health, that’s really the goal of the permit.”

Examples of other toxic plants include yellow flag iris, purple loosestrife, non-native noxious weeds and non-native lily pads, he added.

The first change to the permit is to the timing windows intended to protect priority species. Prospective lake managers can find out priority species and associated timing windows on the Department of Ecology’s website.

“We’ve changed some aspects of how permittees would request a change to that timing window” Lubliner said. “The highlights there are that if they get an approved modification it’s only good for one year and we’re adding a sort of PUBLIC NOTICE process to this timing window.”

This change was made per the request of the Department of Fish and Wildlife, whom the Department of Ecology works closely with on timing windows and priority species.

The second change is requiring management of dissolved oxygen.

“If a permittee’s not able to do that monitoring, we’ve offered an alternative of implementing best management practices, such as phasing the algicide treatment to kill the algae over multiple weeks,” Lubliner said.

He added that the reason for requiring dissolved oxygen management is because dissolved oxygen problems have been associated with fish kills.

The third change is with sign posted along shorelines warning lake visitors and residents that the lake has been treated with pesticides with permit approval. The signs indicate possible restrictions on swimming, fishing and allowing pets to drink from the water.

“The signs had previously been all words,” Lubliner said. “Now we’re looking to put in warning icons, like a red circle with a slash through it over a swimmer.”

Some Silver Lake residents still awaiting permit approval

Silver Lake just east of town has long dealt with algae and noxious weeds and plants, such as Eurasian milfoil. Treatment, however, has been complicated.

12 years ago, the Department of Fish and Wildlife wanted to start over and wipe out the fish population so that pesticides could be safely used to treat noxious weeds. However, when they met with the community, they were met with a “whole lot of animosity,” former head of Bruce Bruscia of the Associated Silver Lake Owners Bruce Bruscia recalled.

“Fish and Game stormed out,” Bruscia said.

Eventually, tiger muskies were put in the lake to kill fish, all of which were neutered to avoid a second generation of fish. Those tiger muskies are still in the lake.

Some residents on the south side of the lake who were still dealing with weed and algae problems, including Bruscia, wanted to apply through an applicator for a permit to spray pesticides on the invasive plants. However, many residents on the north side of the lake didn’t want to put chemicals in the water.

Ultimately, a permit was applied for and granted to only the south side of the lake. The pesticides had some positive effect, and some residents on the north side of the lake wanted to spray their invasive plants, but others still objected, Bruscia noted.

Bruscia stepped down from his position in 2019. Maurice Piersol, co-founder of Piersol Construction, Inc. in Airway Heights, is now heading up lake restoration efforts at Silver Lake.

Piersol said there are now only two landowners on the north side of the lake who don’t want to use pesticides to treat invasive plants, because they use lake water either for irrigation or domestic purposes, such as showering.

“Everyone else wants it,” Piersol said.

Therefore, lake homeowners on the north side of the lake began the permit process through an applicator named Kendall Corn, who is licensed to apply chemicals. However, Piersol said they haven’t heard any correspondence from the Department of Ecology, so the permit process is currently stuck in the water.

The proposed permit isn’t likely to affect Medical Lake or West Medical Lake. Medical Lake hasn’t been treated in over 50 years, per city administration, while West Medical Lake was treated five years ago.

Other lakes in the northeast Washington area that have used herbicide to treat invasive plants and algae include Deer Lake, Loon Lake, Liberty Lake and Newman Lake, Lubliner recalled.

The Department of Ecology is taking public comment on proposed permit changes through its website until Dec. 7.

Drew Lawson can be reached at [email protected].