Andrew Casler

acasler@ithacajournal.com | @AndrewCasler

New hydrilla patches found in Cayuga Lake during summer 2014

Professionals need to identify infestations fast, and volunteers are crucial to timely detection.

2014 Hydrilla eradication efforts cost an estimated $335,000 to $375,000, total costs are above $1M

ITHACA – Despite efforts to knock out hydrilla in Cayuga Lake's southern end, the highly aggressive, invasive plants have popped up in some new spots.

Hydrilla is one of the most aggressive invasive species known in the United States. Left unchecked, it could disrupt lake shore businesses, depress property values near Cayuga Lake, cripple boating and recreation, and spread throughout the Great Lakes basin.

In the Cayuga Lake area, some hydrilla plants continue proliferating, but herbicide treatments and removing the plants by hand have, for the most part, kept the infestations in check, Hydrilla Project Manager James Balyszak said.

Hydrilla was found in the Cayuga Lake inlet during August 2011, and efforts to eradicate the plant began a short time later. In August 2013, hydrilla was found in Cayuga Lake's southern end and in the area where Fall Creek feeds into the lake.

Divers dug up the Cayuga Lake plants by hand in 2013, and they circled the infestation sites with nets to stop plant fragments from floating away. Even one broken-off hydrilla sprig can proliferate new plants. The divers also laid down underwater mats that block sunlight and smother plant growth.

There was no regrowth in areas where the plants were removed in 2013, but new, small hydrilla patches were found nearby this summer, Balyszak said.

Balyszak's team responded to the new infestation, and divers laid out six new underwater mats that cover a total of 1,440 square feet on the lake's bottom.

"That's not to say that the entire area was infested with patches, but that is what we needed to install to ensure that we covered all of them," Balyszak said.

Hydrilla Hunters crucial

The Cayuga Lake Floating Classroom trained 72 new Hydrilla Hunters this year, program director Bill Foster said.

The Hydrilla Hunter program trains and organizes volunteers who can help monitor for hydrilla, and it helps identify infestations before they spread. The hunters are organized under the Cayuga Lake Watershed Network.

Volunteers have brought an impressive level of enthusiasm to the fight against hydrilla, Foster said.

"The number of new faces we've been seeing is fantastic, so we're very encouraged by that," he said.

Professionals need to identify invasive species infestations early on, and volunteers are crucial to timely detection.

"Nobody else can provide that information besides people who are out there," Foster said. "There's no other economically viable way. It needs to be community members and volunteers."

Killing hydrilla in 2014

Hydrilla has been treated with herbicide in Cayuga Lake inlet since 2011. This year's treatment began on July 17 and ended Oct. 8, Balyszak said.

The herbicides work by disrupting photosynthesis, the process plants use to convert light into food.

The herbicides haven't tainted the Bolton Point Municipal Water System, Balyszak added. There were no detectable levels of the herbicides in drinking water during 2014, he said.

The herbicide treatments are very effective at Cayuga Lake inlet, but Fall Creek's water moves too quickly for herbicides to kill all hydrilla.

"In the Fall Creek cove, we weren't hitting the those target (herbicide concentration) levels that we wanted," Balyszak said. That led to manual removal of the plants on Sept. 23 and 24.

"It was actually a very successful effort, we were very pleased with the results that we got," Balyszak said.

But because the early herbicide treatments did not kill all the hydrilla early this season, the plants were able to put down seeds, and there will be more hydrilla sprouts in that area next year.

Hydrilla eradication efforts in 2014 cost an estimated $335,000 to $375,000, which puts the total cost of hydrilla eradication efforts so far at more than $1 million.

Balyszak said there is about $168,000 left in the program's fund balance, and he has $660,000 from the state Department of Environmental Conservation that could become available soon. Also, he said there's $250,000 from U.S. Fish and Wildlife that may be awarded in 2015.

Balyszak said he thinks hydrilla eradication is still a feasible goal, as long as new patches of the plants are found early and wiped out.

"These isolated patches that are popping up, especially in the southeast corner of the lake, those are a primary concern because that's probably the biggest threat there is to the spread of hydrilla," Balyszak said.

Meeting on hydrilla

• A public meeting to discuss this year's hydrilla efforts is planned for 7 to 9 p.m Nov. 18 at the Tompkins County Public Library, 101 E. Green St.

How to help

• Email steward@cayugalake.org for hydrilla-related volunteering opportunities.

• Make sure to clean your boats and equipment of all plant fragments and debris before and after launching. This includes motorized watercraft, canoes, kayaks and paddleboards.

• Learn more about hydrilla and why it is a problem at StopHydrilla.org or cayugalake.org/hydrilla-hunters.html.