KENNEBEC JOURNAL • August 15, 2023
Following the discovery of invasive water milfoil in Cobbossee Lake earlier this month, officials have treated the area with an herbicide but found scattered plants in another part of the lake, near Horseshoe Island. A newly trained volunteer of the Cobbosseecontee Lake Association spotted two areas on the west side of Horseshoe Island infested with the invasive plant that continues to threaten aquatic habitats across the state. More plants were also found along the stretch of Horseshoe Cove. Eurasian water milfoil, if introduced to a water channel, can grow at a rapid rate of several inches in a day. The spread, if not curbed, can thwart water access for humans and harm aquatic life by sucking out the oxygen in the infected area.