July 01, 2008 04:00 am MILFORD _ The Otsego County Conservation Association is looking for volunteers to help with manual eradication of the water chestnut, an aquatic invasive species threatening Goodyear Lake. The effort will be Wednesday and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. OCCA officials said volunteers should meet at the site of the former Blue Bonnet Antiques on state route 28 in Portlandville. If possible, they should bring canoes or kayaks as well as work gloves, sunblock and drinking water. Eradication will be carried out over a five-acre area of Goodyear Lake, with concentration on a two-acre densely populated mat. "We hope that as many people as possible will come help," said OCCA executive director Erik Miller. "This is a community problem and it needs community involvement to solve it." The water chestnut negatively impacts water uses and creates breeding grounds for mosquitoes, while providing only a marginal habitat for native fish and invertebrates. Miller said this year's project is a continuation of similar efforts in 2007 and 2006. Another eradication will take place in August. Complete eradication is anticipated by October 2009. "Our efforts to rid the lake of the water chestnut has been greatly bolstered by cooperation from the Goodyear Lake Association, the town of Milford and community volunteers, as well as by a grant from the DEC," Miller said. In 2007, OCCA received a state grant to acquire one john boat and six canoes to facilitate the volunteer eradication effort.
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