Hydrilla treatment set for Lake Tohopekaliga
News Release
Friday, December 02, 2011
Media contact: Joy Hill, 352-258-3426
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) will
treat portions of Lake Tohopekaliga for hydrilla during the week of
Dec. 5, weather permitting, and will monitor the lake for 90 days
after treatment. Lake Toho, as it is called, is in Osceola
County.
The FWC's Invasive Plant Management Section will treat the
hydrilla with Aquathol K™ applied by both helicopter and boat.
Aquathol K™ has no restrictions for fishing, swimming or
irrigation. Aquathol is approved for use in lakes by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency and the Florida Department of
Agriculture and Consumer Services.
The treatments will consist of about 825 acres of trails and
other access/flood-protection areas on Lake Toho.
Hydrilla is an invasive, exotic, aquatic plant spread easily by
boats throughout the state's lakes and rivers. It clogs waterways,
making recreational activities difficult or impossible, and chokes
out beneficial native plants. Managing and treating it is necessary
for the health of Florida's waters and to enable continued
recreational boating and other aquatic activities.
What makes invasive plant management so complicated is that
hydrilla can benefit recreational anglers and waterfowl hunters and
even help support the endangered snail kite. On the other hand,
scientific research and the economics of attempting to manage it
provide a compelling reason to try to keep it out of new areas and
control it before it harms beneficial native habitat, navigation,
flood control, potable and irrigation water supplies, recreation
and the aesthetic qualities of lakes.
The FWC attempts to balance these needs while managing
hydrilla.
For questions about this treatment, contact Ed Harris, FWC
invasive plant management regional biologist, at 407-858-6170.
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