NORWOOD -- Paul Smith’s College has agreed to help the Norwood Lake Association with the invasion of Eurasian milfoil into the lake, a part of the Raquette River.

Norwood Lake Association President Jim McFaddin announced Tuesday that the college “has accepted our offer to partner with our organization to control growth of invasive plants in Norwood Lake and they will begin work Wednesday. This is recognized as a major benefit for our local residents and taxpayers as Paul Smith’s College is recognized as a leader in combating invasive lake plants.”

Zach Davidson of Paul Smith’s and a dive team will travel to Norwood Wednesday to inspect lake plant life and meet with a local dive team being formed by the Norwood Lake Association, according to McFaddin, who also credits local colleges for continuing to work on the problem.

“Clarkson recently agreed to assist and have been very helpful over the years,” McFaddin said.

The association approached Paul Smith’s to partner with them and the Village of Norwood in the control of milfoil, discovered in Norwood Lake in 2012 by St. Lawrence University researchers, according to McFaddin, who is also mayor of Norwood.

A study by Clarkson University in 2013 said that if left unchecked, milfoil could cover 80 percent of Norwood Lake in 10 years, causing property values to plummet 20 percent and affecting boating, fishing and swimming.

Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute Executive Director Dan Kelting informed the lake association that “assisting groups in their effort to control invasive species in a core part of our institute mission. So we are thrilled to be working with the Norwood Lake Association and the Village of Norwood on their effort to control Eurasian and Variable Leaf Milfoil. The work at Norwood Lake meshes well with regional prevention and control efforts underway by us and or partners.”