Since its accidental introduction to US waterways in the 1940s, Eurasian watermilfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum)(milfoil) has spread across North America to more than 45 states and much of Canada. Once established, this rapidly spreading freshwater weed out competes most native plants and interferes with recreational activities, wildlife habitat, and facilities having water uptake systems.
Why these Water Milfoil aquatic weeds are so successful:
- Grows earlier and faster than most aquatic plants
- Grows at colder temperatures and lower light levels than most native species
- Has a canopy growth pattern which shades out native vegetation
- Plant fragments re-root themselves and grow entirely new plants
- Can grow up to one inch per day!
How these aquatic weeds affect your lake:
- changes natural oxygen and thermal stratification patterns
- reduces circulation, creating problems with dissolved oxygen and bacteria
- disrupts recreational uses
- reduces in-lake biodiversity
- provides poor fish and wildlife habitat
- decreases property values for lakefront homeowners – up to 20%
- can result in an unbalanced fishery
Milfoil must be managed continuously to sustain the environmental and economic integrity of public and private waterbodies. Current methods of management use physical, mechanical and chemical disruption processes that neither eradicate milfoil nor provide long-term control. These methods are expensive, with some banned in certain states and provinces. Eurasian watermilfoil infests many lakes across much of the Unites States and Canada – contact us today to learn how Milfoil Solution® is solving this problem.
