Manage invasive and overgrown aquatic vegetation in lakes, rivers, and wetlands. Solutions include mechanical harvesting and safe plant control methods.
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
According to Nick Brown, DNR invasive species specialist, herbicides used to treat curly-leaf pondweed on Minnesota lakes may not lead to improvements in water quality. Curly-leaf pondweed is an invasive plant found throughout much of Minnesota. The plant grows slowly throughout the winter under the ice, but once the ice has left the lake the
Common practice is to remove river plants to prevent the slowing of the water flow and to prevent flooding during high rainfall events, but according to one research scientist the vegetation can act as a natural buffer. She believes that the plant removal not only threatens the a naturally balanced water level but threatens a
Probably the single most helpful thing we can all do to help keep surface waters clean is the addition of a native vegetative buffer along the lakeshore. Buffers help filter out and trap pollutants like fertilizers, herbicides and pet waste before they reach the water. In addition, the deep roots from native buffer plants help