September 15, 2016 – Oliver Chronicle
(This is the second of a two-part feature exploring the effects that the invasive seaweed known as milfoil is having on Vaseux Lake.)
Milfoil’s unfavourable effects have been most evident in Vaseux Lake, but it’s also present in other South Okanagan lakes including Skaha, Okanagan, Osoyoos and even Tucelnuit Lake in Oliver. But unlike Vaseux, the other lakes were all included under the jurisdiction of the Okanagan Basin Water Board, which monitors and treats excessive levels of milfoil.
Because Vaseux is in the middle of all those lakes, resident Norm Gaumont couldn’t rationalize why it’s not on the water board’s list of lakes.
“It’s such a small, shallow lake, milfoil is much more detrimental to it. And the temperature of water increased because milfoil stops circulation.”