Thanks to the hard work of the aquatic harvesting teams with the City of Sturgeon Bay, you are starting to see fewer plants floating in the bay. Since May, crews have worked from approximately 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. out on the water riding on steam wheel-like vessels, removing some aquatic plant species that impede access to boaters and other marine traffic. Due to the lack of snow and ice cover this winter, the aquatic plants have grown tremendously over the last year thanks to more sunlight reaching the bottom of the bay. A year after taking only four to six loads off the bay during the month of May, this year, crews brought in more than 100 loads during the same month. The crew of five harvester operators have brought in more than 300 loads from the nearly 150 acres of water area they are allowed to remove per their DNR permit. To help their efforts, a private company sprayed the approved areas they were allowed to treat. Harbormaster Ryan Londo says they continue to make progress, but the aquatic plants they have been removing have been a growing problem since he joined the city 12 years ago.

After the plants are removed from the water, they are taken to the city’s compost site, where they sit before ground up into the compost. The City of Sturgeon Bay revised its aquatic plant removal plan earlier this year, though Londo says it stays relatively consistent from year to year.