LCRA, cities take aim at water weeds with chemical treatments
The Lower Colorado River Authority has launched an aggressive invasive vegetation eradication program in lakes LBJ and Marble Falls by permitting municipalities and property owners to use copper-based herbicides during scheduled treatment periods. File photo
CONNIE SWINNEY • PICAYUNE STAFF
MARBLE FALLS — The Lower Colorado River Authority has launched a nuisance water weed eradication program that involves municipalities and property owners participating in waterway chemical treatments starting this spring.
Officials have identified hydrilla, water hyacinth and eurasion watermilfoil as damaging vegetation, which chokes off oxygen for plants and water wildlife, damages municipal intake systems and clogs watercraft and renders areas around docks and in coves unnavigable.
The solution involves breaking down areas of the lakes LBJ and Marble Falls into a series of zones with ranges of treatment dates for applications of copper-based herbicides to kill the nuisance plants.
The first series of treatments in the first zone begins in April.
“That would be … the first time the water’s temperature is going to get to the point where you can see the species establishing themselves in the water,” Burnet County Precinct 4 Commissioner Joe Don Dockery said. “All of these chemicals which are outlined are permitted for use for this kind of application. They’ve been cleared through (the Texas Environmental Quality Commission), Texas Parks and Wildlife and LCRA for treatment of the invasive species without being a threat to the public.”
A number of communities have committed matching grant funds for the program: Horseshoe Bay, $15,000; Marble Falls, $25,000; Wildneress Cove on Lake LBJ, $3,250; and Granite Shoals, $5,000.
LCRA will contribute a $48,250 match.
Granite Shoals and Marble Falls have already paid several thousand dollars to repair damaged or malfunctioning equipment because of the water weeds.
LCRA’s nuisance aquatic vegetation page to administer and provide information for the program can be accessed by potential applicants at www.lcra.org/waterweeds.
On the website, LCRA has outlined color-coded herbicide treatment zones along the lakes where 14 days’ notice must be provided to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department for permission to treat the water with an approved chemical.
“(Residents) can see mapping of where some of the vegetation is and what zone they’re in,” Dockery said.
Instructions during treatments include prohibition of irrigating landscape or use of potable lake water, the website states.
The first deadline for applications is March 18 for owners of properties in the blue zone.
Applications are subject to approval by LCRA.
The final series of treatments are scheduled to end in the fall.
Dockery said eradicating the invastive plants could take two to three applications per treatment area.
“It’s going to be an ongoing battle,” Dockery said. “What we’re going to do at this point with these applications is, hopefully, get back to having public use of our waterways for swimming and recreational events but, more importantly, ensure the intakes for our public water systems we have up and down the lakes.”
To find your residential zone and treatment schedules go to www.lcra.org/waterweeds. For more information call (800) 776-5272 ext. 2112 or email waterweeds@lcra.org.
connie@thepicayune.com