Lake Banook, Lake Micmac weeds to be tackled Monday

A mechanical weed harvester will be back on LakeBanook and LakeMicmac in Dartmouth, N.S., on Monday.

Last year during a pilot project, contractors removed around37,400 kilogramsof weeds from the lakes over 10days.

Three-year contract

"We want to try this over multiple seasons to see if we can have an impact on the regrowth," saidShannon Miedema, Halifax Regional Municipality's energy and environmentprogram manager.

"So we just issued a contract for three years."

StantecConsulting will handle the monitoringand Natural Ocean Products will do the harvesting, she said. The cost of both services over the three years is expected to be around $573,900, the municipality said.

No impact on races

Up to four weeks of harvesting is scheduled to take place on weekdays during business hours,and it's not expected to interfere with scheduled race events, Miedema said.

"That's a requirement for the contractors," she said."The Atlantic CanoeKayak group have been subcontracted to help deal with the community because they are a major steward of the lake."

World-class paddling

Lake Banook is home to a world-class paddling course and three paddling clubs.

Rowers and dragon boats are on the lakes on a daily basis from the spring to the fall. In the past, heavy weed growth has interfered with recreational activities on the lakes.