By JEFF MEYERS ---- — PLATTSBURGH — Officials are concerned that
low water in Lake Champlain tributaries may impact this year’s
sea-lamprey treatment program. But they still hope to complete
the scheduled treatments in several rivers and deltas. The
effort is slated to begin with the Saranac River delta Sept. 10,
where weather conditions will be the deciding factor. “Low water
(in Lake Champlain) is actually better for treating the delta,”
said Bradley Young of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which
oversees the multi-agency program. “The lake is so low that
there are fewer acres of submerged delta to treat.” Lamprey
larvae living in the muddy sediment of a river delta will move
from an area that dries up and back into the shrinking delta,
Young noted, helping officials to target their treatment to a
smaller area. “The only thing that would impact the (Saranac
delta) treatment would be weather, high winds or lightning
storms,” he said. The Lake Champlain Fish and Wildlife
Management Cooperative, which incl