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Lake Bistineau will undergo a drawdown to assist with the control of giant salvinia, an invasive aquatic plant, beginning July 15, 2008.
This action follows two large-scale herbicide applications utilizing spray crews from around the state where over 4,900 acres of aquatic vegetation was treated, expending a total of 3,656 gallons of herbicide. The large mats of vegetation should have been thinned significantly enough from these spray efforts to allow a lot of the giant salvinia to dry and desiccate during the drawdown.
The lake will be drained 7 feet at a rate of 2-to-3 inches per day to minimize the potential of salvinia being transferred downstream and to maximize the amount of salvinia stranded on the bank to desiccate.
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Inland Fisheries Division biologists will assess the effects of the drying action on the giant salvinia throughout the drawdown period. The water level will be cycled as needed in order to allow the remaining live plants to drift into areas where they could be stranded on land as the lake level is lowered again.
The gates will be closed and the lake allowed to be refilled with water on Jan. 30, 2009.
For more information, contact James Seales at 318-371-3050 or jseales [at] wlf [dot] louisiana [dot] gov.
