Lake Norman Marine Commission
Aquatic Plant Management Committee
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Efforts are underway to raise money to stock the lake with sterile grass carp to eat hydrilla, a non-native water weed that threatens to choke the lake. The commission is getting $20,000 of the $40,000 cost from a state grant, but must raise the rest.
The Hydrilla Committee was formed in 2003 as a result of the discovery of the spreading exotic weed Hydrilla. Its task was to study and develop a long range plan for dealing with this weed. This was accomplished with the help of a recognized expert along with advice from Duke Power.
As a result, 6000 sterile grass carp were released in the lake in 2004, and the Committee will meet early each year to ensure that adequate quantities per the plan are released into the lake each year. In about 4 years, a quantity of grass carp will be caught and examined to determine the number in the lake and to more accurately determine the quantities require in order to control the Hydrilla.
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