Water Hyacinth Problem

Water Hyacinth Problem

The canal we are on gets an overgrowth of water hyacinth about 3 times a year. They can look very attractive at times but they are also a big problem. I have seen them fill and block our canal in a matter of days.

When this happens the fishing off the dock and in the canal becomes a useless effort. The fish die or leave. The oxygen level of the water drops way off, the fish leave and a bad odor lingers near the water.

I call to have them sprayed when I notice them starting. If you wait too long and they do not come out and spray them on a timely basis, when they are sprayed and die it takes a week for the dying plants to clear from the canal and there is a real smell then.

I did not like the idea of having them sprayed and killed when I first moved here. After a few heavy blooms I changed my mind. They are an exotic plant that has been introduced in our waters, and all of us need to do our part in limiting the spread of the plant.

One of the canal resident’s would run his boat up and down the canal to chop them up with his prop. He thought he was doing all of us a favor by keeping the canal open, and it was fun. When we told him that chopping the plants up just spreads them, his question was: “ Well what do we do about them?”  That’s when we started getting them sprayed regularly. 

You can report infestations of nonnative plants and sea life species to the Bureau of Invasive Plant Management at:    850-488-5631

Unfortunately the current Governor of Florida must not feel this is a high priority because he is eliminating funds and not renewing positions that deal with things like this.