Weeding Out The Weeds On Lake Ouachita

Arkansans and tourists alike, migrate to the state`s lakes every summer. Millions of people enjoy Lake Ouachita each year, but this summer, many people noticed that there are many more weeds than in years past. Denise Whitaker went to Lake Ouachita to ask the experts about the problem and what they`re doing about it. Rick Stokes with the U.S. Corps of Engineers, has quite a phrase to start describing the problem. "Well they call hydrilla, the 900 pound gorilla." "We identified about 200 acres of hyrilla three years ago. Today, we identified 4000 acres of hydrilla that`s how rapidly this stuff grows in this type of environment." In addition to hydrilla, rick stokes said they`re also dealing with two other types of water weeds growing in the lake. Weeds all over the swimming areas, really bother the kids and others, who want to enjoy ouachita`s clean water. Young Alexander described what he thought of the weeds, "It was gross." The weeds also get caught up in boat props, which is a hassle to clean out, to start your boat. Stokes said research on the problem lead them to use a herbicide that kills the weeds on contact. So far, they treated only about ten acres, of this vast, 43 thousand acre lake. Rick Stokes: "One of the problems we`re having with it in this lake, is it dissipates so rapidly that it doesn`t stay in contact with the plant, quite long enough." It cleaned up this day use swimming area at Crystal Springs, quite nicely, but not this swimming area, for the campground, the area Rick Bunnel and his grandkids wanted to swim, while they camped here. Rick Bunnell: "When we pulled in, there`s all kind of algae in that alcove and it really wasn`t very nice to attempt to swim so we didn`t attempt to it." Rick Stokes: "There are concerns from members of the public about putting herbicides in the lake we have researched the types of herbicides we use. They`re basically non-toxic to humans." The problem, of course started years ago, but Stokes said the problem today, is boaters, who trailer their boats from lake to lake, state to state, without completely cleaning it. That`s how the weeds, get spread from lake to lake. The Corps started a public service campaign, asking all boaters to clean the boat, including live wells and trailer, each time you come in and out of a lake. Filed by: Denise Whitaker