Prepared by Cathy Pinette for The Little Island Pond Association

September, 2002

Do you want the value of your house to decrease by 25%? Could you imagine not being able to swim or boat in our pond? That is exactly what will happen if we are not vigilant in preventing Milfoil from entering our pristine lake. The cost to control, notice I said control, since there is no way to eradicate it can be very costly running into thousand of dollars. The ways to control milfoil once it invades our lake are chemical treatment which could cost approximately $200 - $600 per acre, or a benthic barrier which cost 0.60-$1.22 per square foot or $25,000-$50,000 per acre. The NH DES will pay for the first large scale herbicide application, after that the state will match 50-50 with local lake associations and/or towns. Since there is no town access to Little Island Pond it is very doubtful the Town of Pelham will undertake this expensive project. The money accumulated in the Little Island Pond Association will fall short of the initial investment that will be needed to treat the pond should we become infested.

Eurasian milfoil is a submerged aquatic plant with whorled leaves up to one inch long that appear to be clipped on end. Eurasian milfoil can grow up to 10 feet in height and exhibits a reddish shoot near the surface. It forms dense mats of tangled plants in lakes and ponds. This is what our pond could look like in one year’s time. Milfoil is transported lake to lake on boats, jet ski’s, fishing equipment and other items that are put in and out of lakes and ponds. 

The only way to prevent this infestation is to be vigilant in monitoring all boats and jet skis being put in our pond. How many people on our pond check boats and jet skis that are being put into the water here? Not many! All it takes is one piece of milfoil from an infected lake to be put in our pond and we have lost the battle. Milfoil has infected over 50 lakes and ponds in Southern NH as of today.