The summer months will soon be upon us in the Northeast Kingdom and very soon boating enthusiats will be launching their skiffs and powerboats onto the waters of Lake Harvey in Barnet. In order to keep the lake free from Eurasian Milfoil, boaters will be asked to put their boats through a wash-system prior to launching.

The president of the Lake Harvey Association, Jan Sherman, started this program 5 years ago in an attempt to prevent invasive plant species from destroying native plants and fish already living in the lake water. The main concern is keeping the exotic plant Eurasian Milfoil, out of Lake Harvey's waters.

Eurasian Milfoil is an underwater plant. Once it starts to grow it grows out of control and will hinder other plants from growing. The most common way to transport milfoil from one body of water to another is by boat trailer. Milfoil can live out of water for many hours attached to a trailer as it moves from lake to lake, once placed back in water if can quickly rebound to full life.

Currently there is no milfoil invasion at Lake Harvey, however 63 lakes in Vermont have already been invaded by this plant. The boat wash program at Lake Harvey would require all boats to be washed before entering the water.

If you are looking to boat in Lake Harvey, boat washing will be held along the south shore boat launch and will begin the second weekend in May.

News7's John Gallagher explains more about the program.