Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks will begin an herbicide treatment project on Nilan Reservoir on Nov. 10. FWP staff, in cooperation with the Department of Natural Resources and the Nilan Water Users Association, will treat a 1.15-acre area within a small bay of Nilan Reservoir with the aquatic herbicide fluoridone to eradicate Eurasian watermilfoil (EWM).

EWM is a highly invasive aquatic plant; this is the first detection of EWM in this basin. Montana has limited populations of EWM so management of it is important to prevent further spread into other nearby waters. The one-time treatment will not cause any major impacts to the physical environment or human environment. The reservoir is at historic low levels so the amount of water that will need to be treated is very limited.

A decision notice to proceed with the project was issued after a seven-day comment period during which eight comments were submitted. All respondents supported the project.