SKANEATELES - Though the divers are off the lake, a team of people spent the afternoon searching for milfoil on Skaneateles Lake Wednesday.

After a call for action in August from U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, representatives from the Buffalo district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers arrived Tuesday in the Finger Lakes region to get information about the challenges to the area's waterways.

Physical scientist Byron Rupp and boat operator Dennis Rimer, both of the Buffalo office, toured Skaneateles Lake on a pontoon boat Wednesday to look at the progress made through the Milfoil Eradication Project.

“Our goal here is to just get out on the lake, talk to the stakeholders, and hear about the project,” Rupp said. “It's very preliminary first steps.”

Because the Buffalo district rarely handles matters involving aquatic invasive species such as the Eurasian milfoil, they called on an expert, though Angie Huebner is reluctant to call herself that.

Huebner works for the Jacksonville, Fla., district of the Army Corps of Engineers as an invasive species biologist.

The trio met with officials from the Tri-County Skaneateles Lake Pure Water Association to review the eradication project at the state boat launch off of Route 41. Then, the group went around the lake and heard about the association's process of removing the weed by divers pulling weeds by hand and using boats with vacuums.

The three workers from the Corps of Engineers visited Otisco Lake and the Oswego River on Tuesday and planned to explore Owasco Lake today. They didn't just look for milfoil. For example, the Oswego River had issues with water chestnuts.

“We're trying to keep a regional perspective on this,” Rupp said.

After touring different Finger Lakes and regional waterways, the scientists will compile their observations and create an internal trip report for the Corps of Engineers.

“This is just an information gathering trip,” Huebner said.

Despite the interest from the federal agency, the Milfoil Eradication Project needs action now, according to Pure Water Association President Larry Rothenberg. The multi-year effort requires that divers finish removing the weed from the remaining five to seven acres in Skaneateles Lake to prevent the plant from spreading again to the already cleared 28 acres. After that, the nonprofit organization will need to organize regular maintenance.

“For the next year or two, the project will succeed or fail based on donations,” Rothenberg said.

And its success relies on getting enough money to pay for enough divers to finish scouring the lake's bottom.

Pure Water Treasurer Bob Werner said that local residents contributed the majority of the $1.1 million used to eradicate the milfoil thus far. Now, the association is continuing to raise money to pay for maintenance to keep the invasive weed at bay.