Invasion

[All U Get]

Hi all,

We just sailed the Waccamaw River which is part of the AICW, SC and was a little saddened by the amount of Water Hyacinth floating in the water. This invasive species seems to be moving northward in our waterway and clogging the narrow channels and streams. Has there been any attempt at the federal level to slow its progress?

All U Get

 

[Jackdaw]

We deal with our own form of hell here in Minnesota, called Eurasian Water Milfoil. Mostly it's a state effort to deal with it. You might find out about yours here are the the IS Clearinghouse.

https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/aquatics/waterhyacinth.shtml

 

[Will Gilmore]

Here's an article about the problem in Louisiana. Seems the Army Corp of Engineers were spraying every year to keep freshwater waterways open but have stopped due to budget cuts. It would cost $1mil in one parish to keep it up.
https://www.houmatimes.com/news/whe...cle_2232b812-99eb-11e1-b7f8-0019bb2963f4.html

Water hyacinth is used in water purification pretreatment, fermenting for biofuel, composting and more.
I couldn't find reference to any positive plans to do something, just lamenting that it is getting worse. Warming temperatures are not helping.
- Will (Dragonfly)

 

[pateco]

This is the one we have in our lakes and freshwater canals.

 

[BlowMeAway]

Ayup, we have our issues too!

 

[Charlie Jones s/v Tehani]

at one point years ago hyacinth was so bad in the St Johns River in Jacksonville that small vessels were forced to follow tugs through or just not go through the downtown area.

Last time I traveled the Gulf ICW through Louisiana, the stuff was crazy but at least had gaps where tow boats had forced passage

 

[Kermit]

Hi all,

We just sailed the Waccamaw River which is part of the AICW, SC and was a little saddened by the amount of Water Hyacinth floating in the water. This invasive species seems to be moving northward in our waterway and clogging the narrow channels and streams. Has there been any attempt at the federal level to slow its progress?

All U Get

Since you asked specifically about South Carolina here is a website from SCDNR. I haven’t read much of the site but it seems to address what our state is doing to try to curb the problem.
http://www.dnr.sc.gov/invasiveweeds/hyacinth.html

 

[Will Gilmore]

here is a link to a scientific paper that explains how water hyacinth has been found to make economically feasible silage and soil conditioner (compost) at the farm level http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0734242X94900167
If that doesn't sound like enough incentive for someone to come in and setup a business harvesting water hyacinth out of our waterways on a large scale then, consider this article

 

[Will Gilmore]

http://www.businesswire.com/news/ho...SmartGrow-TM-Planted-Central-Florida-Wal-Mart
A company called SmartGrow is making money selling human hair fertilizer mats in Wal-Mart' around Tampa and Orlando. If that's a marketable idea, certainly water hyacinth - based compost would do well.
- Will (Dragonfly)

 

[Ned Ludd]

Eurasian Water Milfoil

MMMM, Milf oil. Sorry off topic.
Our yacht club has been working with the ACE to help reduce the impact of milfoil in our local reservoir, not easy but it is helping reduce the spread.

 

[All U Get]

Wasn’t there some study done on Manatees feeding on the hyacinth? Spraying seems to be temporary. I think I had read that the plants were released in the St. John’s River many years ago.

All U Get

 

[JamesG161]

The way man has always controlled a "Pest" is...

Learn to eat them!

Or perhaps harvest them to make Biofuels or feed for others to eat.
Jim...

PS: Many examples.. Sharks, Alligators are now controlled.

 

[Will Gilmore]

http://stateofwater.org/ecosystems/return-of-the-hyacinth/

- Will (Dragonfly)

 

[Will Gilmore]

The way man has always controlled a "Pest" is...

Learn to eat them!

Or perhaps harvest them to make Biofuels or feed for others to eat.

Spraying seems to be temporary.

Killing them all off would be possible, if very very difficult. However, we have been shown over and over how the balance of the ecosystem is always thrown off in ways we never foresee.
A new balance would eventually be found as a matter of the nature of systems. But, since it is always about us, it is unlikely that new balance would be one we would like. In the end, something would have to be done to fix whatever problem killing all the hyacinth would cause for us.
The only two other options are to learn to accept things the way they are going or contribute to a balance we can better understand. Consume hyacinth ourselves or feed it to something else and thereby integrate ourselves into the system so we fit better and the system fits us better seems to work most often.
As individuals, that requires not just cooperation but patience.
- Will (Dragonfly)

 

[Randy Rohrbeck]

MMMM, Milf oil. Sorry off topic.
Our yacht club has been working with the ACE to help reduce the impact of milfoil in our local reservoir, not easy but it is helping reduce the spread.

Skaneateles Lake, where we have a summer cottage, has been fighting milfoil for several years and has it pretty much under control. The control effort has been lead by a volunteer group without any state or local funding (at least that I am aware of).

They use divers with a vacuum like device to pull and than suck the plants from the lake or a matting process that blocks sunlight and kills the plants. There are limited public access areas on the lake so they are also able to staff the areas with volunteers during the busier times to check boats being launched.

Most of the homes on the lake get their drinking water directly from the lake so water quantity is pretty important.

Now as long as we don't get any more of that pesky blue green alae.
http://skaneateleslake.org/

 

[jssailem]

Near Lincoln City Oregon we have Devils Lake and D River the shortest river that empties into the Pacific Ocean.
The lake was a freshwater resource till it became a popular place to build homes in the mid 1900's. The runoff from the homes enriched the water with nutrients that caused rampant weed growth. In the mid 1980's biologists said "We can cure that!" and brought Chinese Grass eating carp to the lake. The carp ate the Eurasian watermilfoil then the Brazilian elodea took over. Then the veterinarian fish started eating the deep water plants. This destroyed the habitat for the desired trout and bass. Then there is the "Blue Algae" blooms. All the time the Devil's Lake Foundation need more money to inspect, and eradicate the next invader... Couple of years ago they tried to kill all the carp... One wonders if you removed all the tax paying homes around the lake if the lake would return to normal?

 

[Charlie Jones s/v Tehani]

Wasn’t there some study done on Manatees feeding on the hyacinth? Spraying seems to be temporary. I think I had read that the plants were released in the St. John’s River many years ago.

All U Get

yes, they were released- someone's bright idea. Haven't been in the water on the St John's in years though so don't know what's happening now.

Lived in Jax 20 yrs and never saw, or heard of, a manatee in the river, at least not close to the city

 

[Will Gilmore]

I've seen them upstream.
- Will (Dragonfly)