murphy1244
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Hydrilla: Invasive plant is invading local waterways Grant Segall gsegall@plaind.com MONTVILLE TOWNSHIP — Thigh- deep in bucolic Wadsworth Road Pond, a park worker climbs onto a sort of pogo stick dubbed ''Tammy the tuber corer'' and jumps up and down on it.
Then he steps down, rips Tammy from the pond bed, and empties muck from her hollow bottom onto a small screen known as a ''hydrilla killa.''
Sifting through the mess, another worker finds a couple of tiny tubers and a few thin, slightly leafy branches that look a little like pipe cleaners.
Both the tubers and the branches are bits of hydrilla, a prolific invasive plant that has begun clogging local waters.
A couple of other workers tote a blower and two bags of herbicide pellets onto a motorboat and spray much of the pond's nearly two acres.
Scientists call Hydrilla verticillata the worst invasive plant in U.S. waters. It can grow a few feet tall and up to 25 feet long. It can lay across ponds, cloaking and clogging them, killing other plants and sometimes fish.
With federal and state grants, the Cleveland Metroparks have helped other agencies and local property owners fight back. Staffers will inspect and help manage any reported hydrilla and other invasive plants in private waters for free in Ohio's share of Lake Erie's watershed.
''If we can discover populations early,'' says Mark Warman, who leads the fight against water invasives, ''we may save our region headaches and money down the road.''
Hydrilla is native to Africa, Australia and parts of Asia. It was imported to the United States for aquariums and began infesting Florida waters in the 1960s.
Starting in 2011, workers have found hydrilla at a few Cleveland Metroparks sites: the Greathouse Wetlands in West Creek Reservation, Wallace Lake in Mill Stream Run Reservation, Blue Heron Marsh at the Ohio and Erie Canal Reservation and Sunset Pond and Sanctuary Marsh in North Chagrin Reservation. But Warman says a few years of spraying have apparently cleaned up all of his agency's sites.
More hydrilla has turned up in a local greenhouse and a private pond but has been treated with apparent success.
Montville Township's Wadsworth Road Pond belongs to the Medina Park District but has not been opened for public use yet. Last year, workers found lots of hydrilla covering the pond and sprayed it. This year, just a few fragments have returned so far. Officials are considering putting in a public trail someday in the site's 20 acres.
The Metroparks have also helped Pennsylvania park workers attack thick hydrilla in Pymatuning State Park, though it lies south of the Lake Erie watershed.
Hydrilla grows from tubers less than half an inch long that resemble peas or very small potatoes. They're offwhite or yellowish when the muck's cleaned off. A few thousand tubers can turn up in a square meter of a pond bed.
The plant has spiky little green leaves, usually five per cluster. It also sends out spiny green buds about a quarter-inch long.
Bits of hydrilla can break off and put down new roots. They can also travel on the sides of boats from one waterway to another. Officials urge boaters to clean their vessels, clothes and boots on the shoreline before heading away.
Cleveland started helping other agencies fight hydrilla in 2016, thanks to $316,830 from the federal Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. For 2019, the Metroparks have received $93,900 from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to fight any invasive water species in the Lake Erie watershed and another $50,000 for herbicide for Pymatuning.
Warman says the herbicide harms other plants but not people or wildlife.
For help with suspected water invasives or more information, see tinyurl.com/hydrilla19 or call Mark Warman at 216-635-3200.
About hydrilla
Species: Hydrilla verticillata › Considered the worst invasive plant in U.S. waters
› Can grow up a few feet tall and up to 25 feet long
› Can clog ponds, killing other plants and sometimes fish
› Found in Florida in 1960s › Found in some Cleveland Metroparks this decade
Then he steps down, rips Tammy from the pond bed, and empties muck from her hollow bottom onto a small screen known as a ''hydrilla killa.''
Sifting through the mess, another worker finds a couple of tiny tubers and a few thin, slightly leafy branches that look a little like pipe cleaners.
Both the tubers and the branches are bits of hydrilla, a prolific invasive plant that has begun clogging local waters.
A couple of other workers tote a blower and two bags of herbicide pellets onto a motorboat and spray much of the pond's nearly two acres.
Scientists call Hydrilla verticillata the worst invasive plant in U.S. waters. It can grow a few feet tall and up to 25 feet long. It can lay across ponds, cloaking and clogging them, killing other plants and sometimes fish.
With federal and state grants, the Cleveland Metroparks have helped other agencies and local property owners fight back. Staffers will inspect and help manage any reported hydrilla and other invasive plants in private waters for free in Ohio's share of Lake Erie's watershed.
''If we can discover populations early,'' says Mark Warman, who leads the fight against water invasives, ''we may save our region headaches and money down the road.''
Hydrilla is native to Africa, Australia and parts of Asia. It was imported to the United States for aquariums and began infesting Florida waters in the 1960s.
Starting in 2011, workers have found hydrilla at a few Cleveland Metroparks sites: the Greathouse Wetlands in West Creek Reservation, Wallace Lake in Mill Stream Run Reservation, Blue Heron Marsh at the Ohio and Erie Canal Reservation and Sunset Pond and Sanctuary Marsh in North Chagrin Reservation. But Warman says a few years of spraying have apparently cleaned up all of his agency's sites.
More hydrilla has turned up in a local greenhouse and a private pond but has been treated with apparent success.
Montville Township's Wadsworth Road Pond belongs to the Medina Park District but has not been opened for public use yet. Last year, workers found lots of hydrilla covering the pond and sprayed it. This year, just a few fragments have returned so far. Officials are considering putting in a public trail someday in the site's 20 acres.
The Metroparks have also helped Pennsylvania park workers attack thick hydrilla in Pymatuning State Park, though it lies south of the Lake Erie watershed.
Hydrilla grows from tubers less than half an inch long that resemble peas or very small potatoes. They're offwhite or yellowish when the muck's cleaned off. A few thousand tubers can turn up in a square meter of a pond bed.
The plant has spiky little green leaves, usually five per cluster. It also sends out spiny green buds about a quarter-inch long.
Bits of hydrilla can break off and put down new roots. They can also travel on the sides of boats from one waterway to another. Officials urge boaters to clean their vessels, clothes and boots on the shoreline before heading away.
Cleveland started helping other agencies fight hydrilla in 2016, thanks to $316,830 from the federal Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. For 2019, the Metroparks have received $93,900 from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to fight any invasive water species in the Lake Erie watershed and another $50,000 for herbicide for Pymatuning.
Warman says the herbicide harms other plants but not people or wildlife.
For help with suspected water invasives or more information, see tinyurl.com/hydrilla19 or call Mark Warman at 216-635-3200.
About hydrilla
Species: Hydrilla verticillata › Considered the worst invasive plant in U.S. waters
› Can grow up a few feet tall and up to 25 feet long
› Can clog ponds, killing other plants and sometimes fish
› Found in Florida in 1960s › Found in some Cleveland Metroparks this decade
Anyway, if you need to clear a spot to swim, dock, or launch, or for under water service access this is the ticket. 
