Trueshore, a new family business in Osoyoos, offers milfoil harvesting on residential shorelines. (Facebook / Trueshore Aquatic Milfoil Harvesting)

By Vanessa Broadbent

Osoyoos Times

A new family business in Osoyoos allows lakefront property owners to remove milfoil from their shorelines.

Launched this summer, Trueshore offers aquatic milfoil harvesting on Osoyoos Lake, an idea born to Ken Harris after seeing how the weed impacted his family’s watercraft on the lake.

“They said that every time they put the jet ski or boat in the lake they get clogged up with milfoil and the boat, when they took them out of the lagoon and put them in the big lake, they had to lift the props up and clean all of the milfoil off,” he said.

“It ended up just being a big hassle and after a couple of years of not putting the boat and the jet ski in the water, they were sitting there not doing anything.”

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Along with friends Gary and Stacey Playle, Ken and his wife Lia decided to help other lake users lessen the weed near their properties, but finding a milfoil harvester was more difficult than expected.

“It took a year and a half to actually find one that came up for sale that was close enough so we weren’t buying it from Florida and trying to import it up here,” Harris said.

Unlike the Okanagan Basin Water Board’s milfoil harvester, which cuts the weed along public beaches and clears boat paths, Trueshore’s smaller machine can go closer to shore, as shallow as 18 inches of water.

“Our machine can go in and around docks and closer to shore and cleanup closer to where people would swim or dock their boats,” Lia Harris said.

Trueshore, a new family business in Osoyoos, offers milfoil harvesting on residential shorelines. (Facebook / Trueshore Aquatic Milfoil Harvesting)

Although Trueshore is only cutting the milfoil, and not rototillering, a provincial permit is required to harvest the weed. The permit process is free and takes about two to four weeks. Once approved, the permit is then valid for the entire year and allows for several cuts.

During the wait time, Ken and his son Kyle visit the property and see how much milfoil needs to be harvested and provide a quote.

While harvesting, the milfoil is collected from the lake and taken away to be used as fertilizer for local farms and orchards.

“We don’t leave it in the lake to float around,” Harris said.

Being the first business of its kind in the area, Lia Harris says the service has been welcomed.

“One hotel manager hugged Stacey,” she said.

“We’ve had a lot of positive feedback from businesses, individuals, hotels, and we’ve just started,” Gary Playle added. “It’s been very positive.”

Trueshore is still accepting permit applications for this season. They’re recommending anyone interested in harvesting next year start the process early. More information is available on trueshore.ca.