Posted on: Friday, February 7, 2003

Lingle called on to avert fish kill

By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Staff Writer

State officials meeting yesterday in an emergency session over the threat from an aggressive invasive plant called on Gov. Linda Lingle to step in to avert what one called a "potential public health disaster" — a massive fish kill that could leave 500 tons of rotting fish on the shores of Lake Wilson.

Salvinia molesta is a noxious weed that can drain the life from a body of water and now covers 95 percent of Lake Wilson. State workers have been battling the fast-growing weed there for months only to fall further and further behind.

"We're in a crisis situation in Wahiawa," said Bill Devick, aquatics administrator with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources. "We have to do something that will effectively clear the reservoir by summer."

With the weed also identified at four other locations statewide, the state Division of Aquatic Resources, at the urging of Sen. Robert Bunda, D-22nd (North Shore, Wahiawa), has launched an interagency effort to combat the salvinia threat, and yesterday officials convened a meeting of residents and state, federal and city representatives.

They emerged with a Salvinia Action Plan that called for expanded action at Lake Wilson using equipment from city and other state agencies to supplement the DLNR's effort. The salvinia counterattack calls for continued spraying with herbicide, rounding up the weed within booms, using floating equipment to remove the weed from the water and, after it dries, hauling it to a disposal site.

Longer-term action called for better communication among state agencies and the use of the salvinia weevil, which has been successful in reducing the plant infestation on the Mainland.

But underlying all the efforts was a recommendation that Lingle declare a salvinia emergency or at least set the Lake Wilson project as a priority.

Linda Kawabata, from state Rep. Marcus Oshiro's office, said Oshiro, D-39th (Wahiawa), and other legislators have requested a meeting with Lingle to ask her to take action. An emergency declaration could secure money and state emergency response teams to deal with the problem, Kawabata said.

Lingle spokesman Russell Pang said the governor is aware of the salvinia problem and is awaiting an update on the situation from DLNR Director Peter Young.

Devick stressed that the lake must be cleared by summer or the results could be staggering. By summer the water in the reservoir will be lower and warmer, he said. As salvinia dies off, those conditions will heighten the effect of rotting and dying salvinia, which can suck the oxygen out of the water, leaving nothing for the fish.

In 1962 a fish kill at the lake left 50 tons to 60 tons of fish dead, causing a horrible stench and drawing thick clouds of flies, he said. With 500 tons of fish in the lake now, salvinia unchecked could leave O'ahu with a potential public health disaster, Devick said.

Knud Lindgard, a Kailua Neighborhood Board member, said mosquitoes are also becoming a problem at the lake. Mosquito-eating fish used to keep them under control, but now the plant's roots protect the larvae and people are reporting a surge in the number of mosquitoes, Lindgard said.

Other Kailua representatives asked that the state not forget Kawainui Marsh in the planning process. The marsh and Ka'elepulu Pond in Enchanted Lake have the salvinia weed and any planning for Lake Wilson could be used in Kailua, said Kathy Bryant-Hunter, Kailua Neighborhood Board chairwoman.

The weed has also been reported at Ho'omaluhia Botanical Garden in Kane'ohe and in the Waiakea pond in Hilo on the Big Island. Early, aggressive intervention appears to be a key to keeping the plant under control, and DLNR officials have warned their counterparts on the Big Island to take immediate action against the weed.

For a long-term solution Susan McCombs, laboratory director for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said the Animal Plant Health Inspection Service has begun using the salvinia weevil to control the weed.

Four Western states will participate in the experiment and Hawai'i could be the fifth if it can process an environmental assessment. McCombs said the project could be in place in as little as two months.

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com or 234-5266.