Three Bellevue beaches closing for milfoil treatment
BELLEVUE - The swimming areas of Meydenbauer and Clyde beach parks in Bellevue will be closed Monday July 15, while the city applies herbicide to control invasive milfoil blooms. Also, the swimming area of Newcastle Beach Park will be closed on Wednesday July 17 for the same reason, the city of Bellevue reported. In both cases, only the swimming areas will be closed, and the parks will remain open.
According to the state Department of Ecology, milfoil can drastically alter a water body's ecology, robbing it of oxygen by preventing the wind from mixing the oxygenated surface waters to deeper water. The dense mats of vegetation can also increase the sedimentation rate by trapping sediments, the Department of Ecology reports.
The beach closures at Meydenbauer and Clyde beach parks will be from 7 a.m. Monday to 7 a.m. Tuesday; The closure for Newcastle will be 7 a.m. Wednesday to 7 a.m. Thursday.
More information about milfoil can be seen on the Department of Ecology website at http://www.ecy.wa.gov/Programs/wq/plants/weeds/milfoil.html