Pondweed & Hydrilla

Roland Lake is a 30-acre recreational lake in Virginia. In 2017 the lake was suffering from a long-term accumulation of mucky, nutrient-rich organic sediment that had allowed excessive dense invasive weeds to grow in virtually all areas of the lake 10 feet deep or less.

This meant that it had become virtually impossible to launch a boat or swim out into the lake for several years, impairing the recreational use of the lake and degrading water quality as algae blooms clustered around the tops of the weed mass as it protruded at the surface of the lake.

Three years earlier a considerable sum had been spent on dredging the lake to get rid of the organic sediment that was facilitating the excessive proliferation of invasive hydrilla, milfoil and pond weed. Despite this, the weeds and algae were blooming stronger than ever.

Bathymetric scans produced the weed “heat map” shown below which vividly depicts the dense invasive weed growth in all areas of the lake less than 10 feet deep.

The objective of our intervention was to digest and eliminate the thick layer of mucky nutrient-rich sediment that provides the rooting bed in which the invasive weeds grow. This is know as “bio-dredging”

By managing nutrients, improving water quality and digesting the organic nutrient-rich sediment that was supporting the invasive weed growth, Roland Lake has become deeper, the invasive weeds have been controlled, fish life has improved, and the lake is in pristine condition for the first time in years.

If you have a problem with invasive muck and weeds, contact us now.