Here’s some need-to-know information for the week:
City to host National Night Out on Tuesday, Aug. 6
National Night Out is an annual event that helps to build camaraderie between community members and police officers in a casual setting and allows for meaningful conversations under positive circumstances.
Join us, Tuesday, Aug. 6 from 5-8 p.m. at Foothills Community Park. There will be food, games, bike registration and great conversation.
Boulder County District Attorney’s Office, Boulder Fire-Rescue, Open Space and Mountain Parks, and other city departments and community groups will also be in attendance providing information and resources on their services. The event will be co-hosted by the Emergency Response Connectors. Council members are encouraged to come and participate in the festivities.
National Night Out started in 1984 and has since swept across the nation. It is an annual event in all 50 states, U.S. territories, Canada and military bases worldwide, involving more than 15,000 communities and 37 million volunteers, residents and civil servants. It is a great way to gather to honor our communities and our first responders together.
For more information or questions about this year’s National Night Out, contact Sr. Communications Manager for Public Safety and Critical Response Jennifer Ciplet cipletj@bouldercolorado.gov.
Northern Water and City of Boulder to manage Eurasian watermilfoil, an aquatic invasive plant species, at Boulder Reservoir with targeted herbicide treatment
In summer 2022, Colorado Parks and Wildlife detected Eurasian watermilfoil (EWM), an invasive plant, in the Boulder Reservoir. Since then, EWM has become established in the Reservoir. It has spread significantly in the western coves, the swim beach, near the 63rd Street Water Treatment Plant intake, and near the Boulder Creek Supply Canal outlet, which Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District uses to deliver water to downstream users.
EWM impacts the Reservoir in many ways, including recreational swimming and boating, water supply storage and conveyance, water quality, and habitat degradation. Once established, eradication is unlikely and management options are limited.
Because of these impacts, Northern Water and the city hired a subject-matter expert in aquatic nuisance species to recommend management options, which include using a targeted herbicide within the next year to manage EWM’s spread and minimize its impacts. Northern Water and the city are creating a targeted herbicide application plan to inform how to move forward with treatments on an as-needed basis. The selected herbicide will be triclopyr, because it is effective, has the fewest impacts to water quality and is already used by Northern Water in areas adjoining the Boulder Feeder Canal upstream of the Reservoir.
Triclopyr was reviewed and approved for targeted EWM control in the Boulder Reservoir by the city’s Integrated Pest Management Program. Triclopyr’s use poses minimal risks to water quality, recreation, and irrigation, and can be managed through operational protocols, concentration thresholds, application areas and timing. The recommended application would be in spring 2025, although this may be re-evaluated pending Reservoir conditions. Per the application plan, Northern Water and city staff will evaluate and track triclopyr’s effectiveness to determine future targeted applications along with non-herbicide EWM control methods.
The city will continue to pull EWM by hand near the swim area to protect public safety and recreation use. City staff will also continue to manage established EWM through the existing watercraft inspection and decontamination program, visitor education and the watercraft ban along the North Shore.
Additional information about EWM, the city’s aquatic nuisance species protocols and the herbicide’s targeted application timeline will be posted on the city’s website.
For more information, please contact Ali Rhodes or Joe Taddeucci by email at rhodesa@bouldercolorado.gov or taddeuccij@bouldercolorado.gov or by phone at 303-413-7249 or 303-441-3205.
Regards,
Nuria