The City of Williams Lake’s Aquatic Vegetation Harvester will be launched on Monday, October 18th.
The City was issued a permit to use the vessel between October 15 up until the lake freezes or December 2st, whichever comes first. Manager of Public Works Matt Sutherland says this is to minimize the impact on wildlife in the area. “The dates are set for habitats that are in the lake and the painted turtles,” Sutherland explains, “those are the time frames where things are a little bit more dormant and not so active so that we’re not doing too much damage to any of the ecosystems in the lake.” He says the city is working with a biologist, should they come across a painted turtle.
Operators underwent a series of test runs with the new equipment this week. Four areas of the lake will be harvested, the Schout Island beach, the Scout Island and Dutch Point boat launches, and the area of the aerodrome on the lake’s north shore.
Operators spent the week on the water in a series of test runs of the refurbished lake harvesting vessel, which was purchased by the City last summer, with harvesting to commence October 18 at four areas of the lake.
Read the full release here: https://t.co/5m1iyeHdgE pic.twitter.com/fKaTRJDACQ— City Williams Lake (@CityWL) October 14, 2021
Sutherland says the boat works with a sickle-mower on the front that cuts weeds to a 6-foot depth and picks them up. The weeds are then taken to shore to be discharged and taken to the landfill for groundcover and compost material.
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