The Massachusetts’s Department of Conservation and Recreation is aiming to reduce invasive plant species in Lake Whitehall in a plan that calls for herbicides and mechanical harvesting. The reservoir has extensive growth of “exotic nuisance aquatic vegetation,” including fanwort and variable-leaf milfoil, according to a report by ESS Group, a firmed hired by the state.
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
Pewaukee Lake is the largest of the ninety-one lakes located in Waukesha County, Wisconsin. It is a premier lake for Musky, Walleye, Northern Pike, and Largemouth bass. It supports a diverse plant community that is dominated by Eurasian watermilfoil. The Lake Pewaukee Sanitary District is in charge of lake management and its program consists of
Efforts to restore Georgica Pond are proving to be successful thanks in part to the help of an aquatic weed harvester. Georgica Pond has been invaded by toxic cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, in recent years, which can cause serious health problems. For the second consecutive year, the foundation has leased an aquatic weed harvester to
In 1909, the United States was suffering a shortage of meat. At the same time, Louisiana’s waterways were being choked by invasive water hyacinth. The solution seemed to be simple, the American Hippo Bill. Hippos could be imported to the United States to eat the water hyacinth and people can eat the hippos. The bill
Aquatic plants, whether invasive or native, can be described as either a mess or a resource. Natural plant growth covers 20 – 40% of the water and includes a diversity of plants. However, invasive plants such as Eurasian watermilfoil, hydrilla and water hyacinth quickly take over a lake covering 60% and sometimes 100% of the
It is exhausting reading about lake after lake after lake becoming infested with an over abundance of aquatic vegetation. This plant material not only negatively affects water quality, the health of the fishery, recreation, aesthetics, but it is financially devastating as well. It affects tourism; bait shops, marinas, hotels, restaurants. It affects lake property owners;
Unlike using chemicals, or doing nothing at all, the advantages of harvesting include: – Immediate relief from nuisance plants that interfere with navigation and recreation – Immediate use of the water for swimming or irrigation – There is nothing foreign introduced to the environment when using mechanical control – Biomass is removed from the water