Committed to Preservation

Western faculty and students are working to preserve Candlewood Lake through a research collaboration between Western and the Candlewood Lake Authority to control the proliferation of Eurasian watermilfoil.

Thomas Lonergan, professor and chair of the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, said the invasive aquatic weed is a major problem in Candlewood Lake — the state’s largest lake and greater Danbury area’s primary freshwater resource. The project, he said, was to determine how sensitive milfoil is to drying out and freezing. The lake is partially drained each winter to kill milfoil but these efforts are not always successful.

Last fall, plants were removed from the lake and moved to campus to test whether milfoil was genetically capable of preparing for cold weather and recovering from freezing. “We were trying to determine how many hours of freezing or dryness would irreversibly kill the milfoil,” said Lonergan.“This information could help set policy about the duration of the draw downs (or draining).”

For more information on the ongoing study, visit www.candlewoodlakeauthority.org.