Lake weed's

This year @ Lake Tulloch we were over run by Lake Weed’s ELODEA (Elodea canadensis) to be exact.
This stuff seems to grow in shallow water 10 feet or less. In sections where water flow is not that great. At the peak of summer there were sections of the lake in coves that were UN usable. Peoples docks were surrounded it would clog your prop and get all over your rudder.
Our cove was under constant attack. My neighbors and I all took turns pulling this stuff out of the lake and onto shore. We seemed to get our cove pretty cleaned out. The problem is that the weed's up root they and travel. Example you can do an awesome job cleaning out your cove but if the people up the way don't clean out, you can have the weed's from their place in your cove in no time.
Tri Dam the people that manage the lake decided to lower the lake some 25 feet lower than normal winter level. The thought is/was that this would expose the weeds to cold weather and kill them off. I was wondering if anyone had any Ideas how to control or take care of the weed's while the water is low. They say the roots can be as deep as 2 feet down. I don’t think digging 2 feet down all over the place is an option. We can’t use chemicals. I have heard from Mikeski that this lake blanket works well. I’m not looking for some kind of Lake Rake or chopper. These things grow fast and chopping them off is just like mowing your grass. It takes care of it right away but they are back in no time. Any one has any Idea or experience with this type of system or any other device? Thank’s

http://www.lakebottomblanket.com/product.html

I don't think that lowering the lake is going to kill them off. We had the same problem sprout up when our lake level went down. We found out that they were growing in shallower parts of the lake because the sun gets to them. That whole photosynthesis thing. A neighbor that lives down there year-round took a sample to the University of Florida, and they were able to tell us about it. The stuff that was growing in our lake was called hydrilla (sp?) and we were able to buy a granular chemical called "navigate" to clear out our immediate beach area. We were also told that if we were to put carp in the lake, they would eat it up, but only to buy sterile carp for obvious reasons. Moral of my story...Grab some of it and take it to your nearest university. See what they have to say about it.

We used to use a super high concentration blue dye in the private lakes to kill the weeds. It basically filters the nutrients from reaching the weeds so they starve off and dye. I seem to remember a coffee can of the dye treated the lake for about a month? Not sure if the dye could be concentrated or if it would travel out of your bay? Not sure the fishermen would appreciate it either as it could harm them?

lake austin has hydrilla bad. there's a program where they've been releasing asian carp into the lake. they supposedly make them unable to reproduce first, we'll see about that. the lake is also drained 10 ' each year from early Jan to early Feb. this is for dock maintenance and setting up tarps on the lake bed around your docks so the weeds can't grow there. they also use chemicals i think.

hydrilla, at least, grows down into the mud. you can't really get to it without digging out the lake bottom. cutting it makes it multiply, the pieces just sprout. they have harvesters that cruise around scooping it up but that's just a waste of gas.

trailers take this crap from lake to lake, too. check your trailers if you lake hop. check them before you leave and leave the weeds at that lake. some areas have fines for dumping or bringing weeds into the area. it's nasty and expensive to fight.

(Message edited by salty87 on November 14, 2008)

Adding chemical without the proper gov permissions could end up with a massive fine or even a jail term. I would be double checking with your local authority before adding anything.

http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/news/2004/hydrilla_lakeaustin04.htm

http://www.utexas.edu/depts/grg/hudson/grg360g/EGIS/final_project/spring04_projects/web_waters_oliver/Hydrilla%20in%20Lake%20Austin.htm

Some good reading. This is about the Hydrilla in lake austin.

I hate this stuff. It always gets stuck in your prop. And when riding, sucks to crash into the water and feel like you are being grabbed by this stuff, like it is trying to drown you.

Tim
Wet Sounds

You just need to harvest your hydrilla "crop" for nutrition:

http://organicpharmacy.org/products/Hydrilla/SKU:RF-70026?gclid=CKX3_uui9pYCFQECGgodCmLKXQ

"I hate this stuff. It always gets stuck in your prop. And when riding, sucks to crash into the water and feel like you are being grabbed by this stuff, like it is trying to drown you"

Heh...ever ride the Delta?

Nate,

Nope, been there on business but never had the time to get a set in. Pretty bad?

Tim
Wet Sounds

Yo "G"
Not to get off subject but are you gonna be at the lake for T-day? We'll be there Wed-Sun, Just wondering if you think if I can launch the boat. Pantoon is put away but planning on bring the Star. What do you think?

Dave: Yea I will be there. You won't have any problem launching at the Conner Gate. (You need a Key Card)
Or the South Shore ramp. I saw like 4 boats launch there on Sunday no problem. Get ahold of me if you need to get the gate open

T-Day at the lake. NICE !!!

that would drive me insane! i have a phobia of swimming in the water with long weeds sticking everywhere, i'd freak out if i fell into a big forest of it wakeboarding.

My bro works for a company that does invasive plant species mapping in the delta. They cruise around making maps and taking samples. They then pass it along to the other sub company and they go through with these little granuals that kill it off.

They did a job in Emerald Bay in Tahoe in June. I believe in Tahoe there are a group of Scuba volunteers who dive down and pull it by hand though.

G- is the water drinking water? Is that why no chemicals?

Luke: Yes it's drinking water. Tri Dam the group that runs the lake level says that even the lake blanket is a no no. WTF? Yes apparently you cant put anything in the water even this blanket. There are group's working on a solution to try and treet the weeds at the root's but untill Tri Dam has a approved way of treeting the weeds I guess they will just have to fight the weed problem by lowering the lake every other year.
Traditionaly Tri Dam lowers the lake to this super low level every 5-th year. This has some what kept the weeds at bay.

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quote:

By salty87 (salty87) on Friday, November 14, 2008 - 6:22 am:

lake austin has hydrilla bad. there's a program where they've been releasing asian carp into the lake. they supposedly make them unable to reproduce first, we'll see about that.

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They are putting asian carp in your lake on purpose?? My parents live on the Mississippi and the flying asian carp are the worst invasive species I have ever seen. Nothing like getting hit in the head by a 20# carp while cruising down the river...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yS7zkTnQVaM

I think all the western lakes are going to have a major weed problem with the muscle invasion that is now making the water clear for sunlight to reach up to a hundred feet deep.

no, make that grass...not asian.

damn, i can't remember carp anymore. (oops, that was bad)

I know this is on a much smaller scale but our 1/2 acre pond had a hydrilla problem that grass carp have pretty much taken care of. We manually removed as much as we could then put 3 grass carp in the lake and rarely see a strand of hydrilla much less have a problem. Also the ones we had did not reproduce either, there are still 3 and they are giant now after about 10 years, but they are still serving their purpose.

Chris, thats the one thing I didn't like about the carp idea. The last thing I want when I fall is some ginourmous fish bumping into me. I assume they don't care about humans, but it would still freak me out.

we had a problem with water hyacinth on one of our little secret delta hideouts. fastest growing plant known, took the place over.

That would suck.