Curly Leaf Pondweed is a new name circulating around Hayden Lake. It’s been there for a few years, but hasn’t made itself known until now. This invasive aquatic weed, on the Idaho State Department of Agriculture Noxious Weed list, is subject to monitoring and treatment, if needed, to prevent it from overtaking beneficial, natural vegetation.

Curly Leaf can spread quickly. According to Tim Prather, Invasive Plant Biology Professor at the University of Idaho, it produces turions, a kind of self-propagating bud on its roots, which can sit in the muck of the lake for years before sprouting. If free-floating, they can travel far and take root in neighboring bays.

Curly Leaf spreads by fragmentation too. Boats that motor through weed beds chop up the plant and create thousands of new potential shoots.

Any fragments caught in propellers or drying on hulls spread to other waterways unless boats are properly cleaned before being launched elsewhere. The best way to manage it is to prevent its spread; once established, treatment is necessary.

In the spring of 2018, Hayden Lake experienced large mats of weeds in its shallow waters. These weeds had grown through the winter, emerging much earlier than expected. Their leaves were narrow and rippled along the edges like noodles. This was Curly Leaf Pondweed.

This spring, ISDA will survey Hayden Lake for Curly Leaf, and if present as expected, will treat the affected areas. The treatment is targeted to impact primarily Curly Leaf. It won’t require water-use restrictions. The goal is twofold: first, to prevent Curly Leaf from affecting lake use this summer; second to drive back the Curly Leaf population to the point where mechanical methods can keep it in check without further chemical treatment.

To learn more about weed treatment in Hayden Lake this spring, the Hayden Lake Watershed Improvement District is hosting a meet-n-greet with ISDA on Thursday, March 7, at 1, at 9393 N. Strahorn Road, Hayden Lake. Please RSVP at https://haydenlakewid.com/march-invasive-species-info-meeting-rsvp/