Boat ramp access restored
By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Staff Writer
Boat fishermen will be able to cast their lines more frequently in Lake Wilson, since the battle against Salvinia has been going so well.
Advertiser library photo • April 22, 2003
The lake's boat launch ramp will be closed on the first Tuesday of each month, according to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.
Most of the Salvinia molesta that covered Lake Wilson had been cleaned from the boat ramp area in April. The lake was closed in January for a $1 million cleanup of the noxious weed. It reopened to the public in June.
Since June 14, the ramp at the Wahiawa Public Fishing Area in Lake Wilson had been off-limits twice a month for three days in a row so staff could continue spraying herbicide on Salvinia molesta, a fast-growing noxious weed that overtook the lake last year.
The regimen followed a major lake cleanup after Salvinia covered about 95 percent of the 300-acre reservoir. The state was forced to close the lake in January for a $1 million cleanup. The lake reopened in June.
The closures ended sooner than expected, thanks to the effectiveness of follow-up spraying, said Peter Young, DLNR chairman. The six-day closures were expected to run another month.
"It's a sign of continuing progress that the majority of the weed has been removed from the shoreline of the Wahiawa Public Fishing Area except for grassy areas," Young said. "The Tuesday closures will be used to monitor plant growth, and if necessary to spray the areas that show signs of rapid growth."
Two areas in the lake remain enclosed with booms to keep the weed from spreading, said Glenn Higashi of the DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources. The pest is mostly gone, but some of it is in the California grass, which may need to be removed, Higashi said.
The state will monitor the area for invasive and exotic plants spread by people dumping aquarium or pond plants, he said, adding that he hoped media coverage would deter the practice.
The DLNR also is asking boat fishers to pick up any stray plants and dump them in containers at the boat ramp, Higashi said. Fishermen he had spoken to told him they realized they'd have to pitch in.
"It's like a community crime watch," he said. "You need to get the community involved ... because then it's more successful."
Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com or 234-5266.
