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Deer Lake Association
A member of the Minnesota Lakes Association

Curly Leaf Pondweed:

Aquatic Invasive Species

 

More Information on CLPW

 

2020 Report:

 

Chris Evans and the Itasca AIS Program Control & Monitoring team discovered about 450 square feet of the invasive plant curly-leaf pondweed (CLP) growing in about 2-4' water depth in Access Bay near the public access dock.  They found this patch while on a routine AIS search of Deer Lake.  The DNR confirmed this discovery.    

CLP is nasty, and grows quickly in dense mats to 15' water depths, can make recreation difficult or impossible, then dies in July and releases phosphorus into the lake causing algae growth.  Anyone who's owned property on a lake with CLP will tell you we do not want this invasive in Deer Lake.

https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/invasives/aquaticplants/curlyleaf_pondweed.html

Chris's team caught it early enough where we are attempting to remove it, but it's likely to be a multi-year removal effort since CLP is stubborn and reproduces easily.  Five Itasca AIS staff plus five DLA volunteers worked carefully on Tue Aug 4th to pull the CLP plants from Access Bay.  Chris's team also found additional much smaller patches of CLP in the far northeastern corner of the lake.  Chris and his team working alone removed those patches.  Chris's team will be back next spring to check on regrowth.  

DLA is grateful to Chris's Itasca AIS team for their work and this discovery.  DLA is grateful for our volunteers, for our members, and for anyone who has donated to DLA's water quality efforts.

Some Photos from the 2020 effort by Chris's team:

CLP can be seen under the lillypads to the left of the boat

Aerial view of the access showing the location of the CLP

Working the CLP site

Team takes a welcome break

 

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Here are some pictures from one of our annual dive operations: