City of Worcester, MA

WORCESTER, Mass. – The City of Worcester Department of Sustainability and Resilience has hired contractors to apply a treatment of the herbicide ProcellaCOR (florpyrauxifen-benzyl) to the northern section of Coes Reservoir on Thursday, June 25, 2026. 

All persons are advised to discontinue using water from Coes Reservoir for irrigation of plants or lawns or watering livestock. On the day of the treatment, the municipality advises that individuals stay out of the water, discontinue boat use, and keep pets out of the water in the northern section of the lake, north of the Knights of Columbus property. Recreational use, including boating and swimming, is not restricted in the southern section of the lake. 

Lake access points will be posted prior to the application. Water use restrictions are scheduled to be lifted the following day. 

Herbicide treatments are a safe and effective method to control the growth of the invasive plant Eurasian Milfoil. The application of herbicides is a common practice to reduce invasive weed density and poses no risk to humans and animals after application is complete, though water use for irrigation is discouraged. This application has been approved by the Worcester Conservation Commission.

###