Manage invasive and overgrown aquatic vegetation in lakes, rivers, and wetlands. Solutions include mechanical harvesting and safe plant control methods.
In recent years Fox Lake in Wisconsin has responded to a decade of water quality management that has shifted the lake from being turbid with frequent algae blooms to a clearer water condition. This has fostered improved lake use, the return of aquatic plants and a more balanced fishery. One consequence of the water quality
The Okanagan Basin Water Board milfoil program has been so successful over the past five decades. Aquatic weed harvesters used in significant areas with milfoil infestation on Okanagan Lake, British Columbia, Canada are now clear of the invasive plant. Meanwhile, the water board continues to work with the province and environmental consultants to expand existing
A public boat launch doesn’t necessarily make access to a lake free. There are costs involved in keeping the waters weed free, navigable for recreation and stocked with fish. McDill Inland Lake Protection and Rehabilitation District’s president Krista Olson asks people visiting any lake to utlize the donation boxes. Those donations are very important for
Benefits of Weed Harvesting Dr. Stephen J. Souza Lake Hopatcong Commission Environmental Consultant One of the most obvious management activities of the Lake Hopatcong Commission is the weed harvesting program. Some may view this as a simple “mowing” of the Lake. However, much more is accomplished than simply opening boating lanes and improving swimming. The
In the last few decades, the lake’s weedy, northern-most portion has clogged hulls and deterred boaters from entering the lake from the Oswegatchie River. Patches of weeds greet the water’s surface near every dock, and nearly invisible from a distance on a windy day, matted greenery creates a basin of weeds seven-feet-deep in some spots.
Some shoreline residents of Duck Lake, Michigan aren’t keen on the continued use of chemicals to treat invasive aquatic plants for fear of unintended consequences. Green Lake Township has for years collected a special assessment tax to pay for Eurasian watermilfoil treatments in Duck Lake, an effort to keep the species’s signature mats of floating
Excessive and dense vegetation is a common fish management concern in Wisconsin Lakes. Although weed harvesting is typically focused on recreational improvements little consideration was given to the consequences on fishes. That is until a study was performed to determine how close-cut harvesting can be used as a whole-lake fish management program. A conventional weed
Introduced aquatic weeds clog many of New Zealand’s waterways. It affects aquatic life and prohibits access and use for recreational users. Lakeweed Harvesters remove the aquatic plants mechanically, using a harvester mounted on a three metre by seven metre pontoon vessel. The operation works under strict standard operating procedures to ensure maximum weed is harvested
Floating weed harvesters have opened passages through Dane County Wisconsin’s dense tangles of underwater plants for about 50 years. The barges wield rotating cutting bars like those on farm combines to cut a submerged crop that is fertilized too well by runoff of nutrients like dairy manure. Each spring, the county launches a flotilla of