Elodea. Credit: Frank Vincentz - CC BY-SA 3.0, wikimedia.org

Three Fairbanks area water bodies are infested with invasive Elodea, and the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation is hoping to treat them with fluridone, an herbicide that has been employed successfully against the invasive in the past.

"It's an herbicide that basically works by preventing plants from photosynthesizing," said Karin Hendrickson, director of the Department of Environmental Conservation Pesticide Control Program.

DNR invasive plant coordinator Heather Stuart said it's expected that the invasive came to Alaska as an aquarium plant, and that it has since moved from water-body to water-body via boats, float planes, fishing and other water sports gear. "If we don't deal with it on a state-wide level, then there's always that risk of having a water body that hasn't been dealt with elodea in it [sic],  re-infesting an area that has already been treated," said Stuart.

For the full article from alaskapublic.org click here, or on the link available below.