’s Aquatic Management Programs

…Clewiston, FL April 11, 2017 Matt Phillips FL Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Invasive Plant Management Section Florida Waters

• 2.5m acres surface water

• 1.5m acres lakes & rivers

• 7,700 lakes & ponds

• 1,700 rivers & streams

• Thousands of miles of canals FWC Responsibility • 463 public lakes and rivers - 1.26 million acres • 60 exotic - (98%) - 20 invasive - (96%) • 435 authorized management programs - 65,233 acres FY15-16 - $17.96M FY15-16 Uses of Florida Public Waters Recreation Listed Species Crops vs. Invasive

• Crop Management / lawn – control multiple weeds (native and invasive plants) among 1-2 desired species

• Invasive Plant Management – control 1-10 invasive weeds among multiple (100s) desired species Native vs. Exotic vs. Invasive

Invasive Species: NISC

• non-native (or alien) to the ecosystem under consideration and

• whose introduction causes or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health Invasive Plants

Characteristics of Invasive Plants

• Rapid growth to reproductive maturity • Multiple reproductive methods • Wide dispersal and survival • Broad environmental tolerance • Resists management and control Program Components

• Prevention • Assessment / EDRR • Regulation / Compliance • Management / Control • Research • Vegetation planting/Habitat enhancement • Education & Outreach Prevention

DHS / USDA Importation USDA Interstate FDACS Nurseries Assessment

Detection - Priorities - Evaluation Early Detection - Rapid Response

• $ 1 million contingency

• Salvinia molesta • Ipomoea aquatica

• Luziola subintegra • fluitans • Azolla pinnata Water Hyacinth & Water Lettuce

• Floating plants • Invasive exotics • South America • Problems – Flood control – Navigation – Recreation – Environmental Floating Plant Problems Hydrilla

• Submersed - to 35 feet • Invasive exotic • SE Asia • Problems – Flood Control – Navigation – Recreation – Environmental HydrillaHydrilla Problems

• Submersed - to 35 feet • Invasive exotic • SE Asia • Problems – Flood Control – Navigation – Recreation – Environmental Other Plants Other Plants Program Components

• Prevention • Assessment / EDRR • Regulation / Compliance √ • Management / Control • Research • Vegetation planting • Education & Outreach Management Decisions

• Uses / functions • Impairment • Current conditions • Technology • Cost / budget Control Options

• Biological 19 • Chemical 18 • Cultural / Physical 9 • Mechanical 4 • Environmental Biological

Plant # Biocontrols

Alligatorweed 3 Hydrilla 5 Water hyacinth 4 Water lettuce 2 Melaleuca 3 Lygodium 2 Biocontrols Mechanical - History Mechanical

• Non-selective • Slow (2-8 acres/day) • Cost prohibitive • Small areas Harvest - Shred Harvest • Harvest • Haul / Dispose • Spread • $10,000 - $20,000 / ac Cultural / Physical

• Hand removal • Diver dredge • Prescribed fire • Drawdown* • Flooding* • Barriers • Dyes • Rakes Environmental Control hydrilla uprooted… …and blown away ! Chemical Control Chemical 15/28/91 USEPA-FDACS Registered Herbicides Herbicide # Herbicide # bispyribac 1 imazamox 1 carfentrazone 1 imazapyr 1 copper 3 penoxsulam 2 diquat 1 peroxide 1 endothall 4 topramezone 1 flumioxazin 1 triclopyr 2 fluridone 6 2,4-D 2 glyphosate 1 Chemical 18/31/94 USEPA-FDACS Registered Herbicides Herbicide # Diquat + Endothol 1 2,4-D + Triclopyr 1 Sethoxydim 1 Herbicide Registration

Process for aquatic registration

~ 140 health and environmental tests

~ 8-10 years for full EPA registration

~ $40-60 million for aquatic registration Herbicide Registration

• USEPA registers for aquatic use • FDACS registers for FL use – envt. agencies comment to FDACS – new compounds - uses / sites

• FWC permits / contracts use in water – funds research • rates, selectivity, timing, synergy Research Management

• Reproductive methods – / propagule viability • Weakness in life cycle • Susceptibility to available controls – synergistic effects • Impacts to non-target organisms Research Program

1970-2017 $31.6 million Funded 252 projects FY 16-17 Research and Education Projects Category Funds Biocontrol (10) $ 622,334 Ecological (3) $ 126,686 Education (6) $ 397,584.49 Herbicide (12) $ 488,252.14 Prevention (1) $ 35,995

TOTAL 32 $1,670,851.63 Herbicide Research

Mesocosm Ponds

Large scale Small lakes Minimize Herbicide Use

• Integrate with other methods • Apply lowest effective rates • Apply when target is most susceptible • Control before problems develop Maintenance Control Maintenance Control

Suwannee River Water Hyacinth - 1974 - 2013

12

10 Hyacinth Acres Acres Controlled 8 Tons of Organics 6 Pounds of Herbicide

4

2 Units in Units Thousands 0

Year Maintenance Control

Water hyacinth 1947 - 2013

140 ~ 25,000 - 35,000 ac / yr 120 ~ $2.5 - $3.5 M / yr 100 80 60 40 Acres Acres (thousands) 20 0 1947 1959 1969 1979 1989 1999 2009 2013

Year Habitat Enhancement Management Decisions

• Uses / functions • Plant species present • Impairment • Technology • Current conditions • Budget Management Dilemma

• Manager perspective – control invasive plants before they become a problem

• Stakeholder perspective – don’t control plants until they become a problem Coordination

• USACE • Local government • USEPA • Private businesses • USDA • Public / associations • USFWS • USGS • FDEP • FWCC • FDACS • WMDs • Universities How does this Work on Okeechobee? Lake Okeechobee Interagency Group

• Meets every 2 months to Quarterly to discuss lake Management issues • Allows for public participation/comment • Alternate locations between Clewiston and Okeechobee; Sometimes in Lee County. • Meetings noticed on the Task force website (USACOE). • Workplans developed with group input. What is a workplan and how can I find what is going on? Myfwc.com

Summary of Okeechobee Operations

• Biocontrol • Habitat Enhancement • Rx fire • Mechanical • Herbicide Megamelus scutellaris, a biocontrol agent of Waterhyacinth • Planthopper found in the native range of waterhyacinth (South America) • ONLY feeds on waterhyacinth - they drink the plant’s juices causing it to grow slower or not at all – Damage from this insect cannot easily be seen on the plants • Can fly or hop away from plants that have been sprayed with herbicide Megamelus scutellaris and Lake Okeechobee

• USDA Invasive Plant Research Lab has released over 241,000 Megamelus in 17 locations around Lake Okeechobee since 2014 • Insects have spread >1 km from a release site by themselves • Releases of 10,000-26,000 continue monthly with the help of David Lattuca (USACE) and Susanna Toledo (FWC) Habitat Enhancement Projects

• Bulrush Plantings (Cody’s Cove) • NW Marsh Tree Plantings • Scraped areas Maintenance Cody’s Cove Bulrush Planting NW Marsh Tree Planting Scraped Areas Maintenance Control To Support Enhancement

• FY15-16: 2,742 ac cattail, 223 ac torpedograss, 412 ac Phragmites • FY14-15: 3,998 ac cattail, 3105.5 ac torpedograss, 56 ac Brazilian pepper, 20.5 ac Cogongrass • FY13-14: 1,500 ac cattail, 316.5 ac torpedograss, 200 ac phragmites, 78.2 ac hydrilla, and 14.25 ac cogongrass Rx Fire on Okeechobee FY15-16: 6,500 Acres FY 14-15: 159 Acres Mechanical

• No Mechanical treatments last 3 years*

Herbicide Control Summary FY 14-15

FY2014-2015 21334.01 $2,312,749.09

Floating Plants (Eichhornia and ) 10866.51 $1,624,714.43

Hymenachne amplexicaulis 61 $7,372.34

Imperata cylindrica 20.5 $3,249.43

Luziola subintegra 228.5 $47,618.27

Nymphoides cristata 0.75 $1,616.04

Oxycaryum cubense 231 $30,556.69

Panicum repens 3215.5 $240,696.00

Pistia stratiotes 2511 $262,176.18

Schinus terebinthifolius 56 $9,757.83

Tussocks 83.75 $12,490.91

Typha spp. 4059.5 $72,500.97 FY15-16

FY2015-2016 17895.6 $2,218,264.89

Floating Plants (Eichhornia and Pistia) 12520.6 $1,623,162.24

Hydrocotyle spp. 7 $829.47

Hymenachne amplexicaulis 2 $392.53

Luziola subintegra 146 $27,058.45

Nymphoides cristata 1 $443.29

Oxycaryum cubense 41.5 $6,744.00

Panicum repens 387.5 $48,705.91

Phragmites australis 412 $30,549.03

Tussocks 51 $12,050.82

Typha spp. 4327 $468,329.15 FY16-17

FY2016-2017 12408.54 $1,699,162.16 Ampelopsis arborea 19.78 $18,005.13 17.42 $13,006.83

Floating Plants (Eichhornia and Pistia) 11490.73 $1,397,382.61 Hydrilla verticillata 26.31 $13,419.67 Hymenachne amplexicaulis 0.25 $118.53 Imperata cylindrica 9.55 $16,877.84 Ipomoea sp. 2.4 $9,357.67 Ludwigia spp. (other) 0.5 $2,670.08 Luziola subintegra 133.5 $26,351.37 Melaleuca quinquenervia 0.4 $1,017.18 Mormodica charantia 16.85 $64,232.02 Nymphoides cristata 2.6 $605.71 Oxycaryum cubense 227.98 $40,278.84 Panicum repens 78 $11,724.35 Pistia stratiotes 277.07 $59,097.17 Schinus terebinthifolius 1.7 $3,545.92 Scleria lacustris 1 $1,005.51 Tussocks 102.5 $20,094.00 Typha spp. 0 $371.73 Questions? Additional Slides Common Herbicide Mixes Summary

• Diquat: 2 quarts herb. + 100 gallons water per acre (adjuvants ~0.3 gpa • 2,4-D: 2 quarts herb. + 100 gallons water per acre (adjuvants ~0.3 gpa) • Flumioxazin: 3 ounces herb. + 100 gallons water per acre (adjuvants ~0.3 gpa) • Penoxsulam: 4 ounces herb. + 100 gallons water per acre (adjuvants ~0.3 gpa) Habitat Work in support of nesting colony This cattail treatment was made at the Boy Scout cut entrance to the lake from the rim canal after an airboat accident had taken place in the vicinity. 4 years ago. opening a broad area for visibility and fisherman use. Remains open today. Moratorium?

• See moratorium document (Word document) attached with this presentation • An herbicide use moratorium for the control of water hyacinth was declared in July, 1986 on Lake Okeechobee in response to a widespread algae bloom. Herbicide use was replaced with much less effective mechanical harvesting, resulting in an expansion of water hyacinth from 2,000 acres to 8,000 acres in five months, despite continued mechanical harvester and biological control activity. In the final analysis, it took more than two years, $2 million and the control of 11,000 acres of water hyacinth using herbicide to re-establish maintenance control of water hyacinth in Lake Okeechobee. By late 1986, water hyacinth and water lettuce blocked nearly all of the flood control structures and navigation canals within Lake Okeechobee. At left is a harvester (in circle) struggling to remove floating plant masses from the Moorehaven Canal just upstream of the navigation lock into the Caloosahatchee River.

Water hyacinth (dark) and water lettuce (light) block the public and commercial boat ramps at Okeetantie on the northeast side of Lake Okeechobee in late summer of 1986. At right is the public beach and pier on the north end of Lake Okeechobee. Brown color in the ensuing photos is controlled water hyacinth. Diquat herbicide The slow process of regaining maintenance control. Thewas the following primary herbicide photos used werebecause taken it controls in April 1987. both water hyacinth and water lettuce but does not kill beneficial plants like bulrush or spikerush.

The outer edge of the water hyacinth mat in the marsh just south of the Kissimmee River entrance into Lake Okeechobee has been controlled (brown). uncontrolled hyacinth A wide band of hyacinth remained (dark green) to be controlled after the initial plants sunk and decomposed. All the while new plants bud off of existing plants, germinate, and hyacinth drifts in from other areas of the lake. Because of this constant regrowth and recruitment, regaining control took well over a year.

Controlling water hyacinth around Rita Island on the south end of Lake Okeechobee.

Controlling water hyacinth in the Chancey Bay area of northeast Lake Okeechobee. Dr. Chuck Cicra Study on Herbicide application to bedding fish.