Thursday, November 7, 2024

Blue Mountains winning lagoon weed infestation battle

NSW

Blue Mountains City Council’s Natural Area Management and Healthy Waterways teams
have claimed a victory in their efforts to tackle a massive weed infestation at Glenbrook Lagoon.

Glenbrook Lagoon is a popular recreation space for locals who use it for bushwalking and canoeing. It is also home to several native species of water plants, fish, frogs, birds and turtles.

Council says urbanisation of the area has led to the introduction of noxious weeds such as Cabomba (Cabomba caroliniana) and Mexican Water Lily Mexican Water Lily (Nymphaea Mexicana).

Cabomba is a submerged aquatic plant, which is listed as a Weed of National Significance in Australia due to its extremely detrimental impacts on the biodiversity and function of freshwater ecosystems, water quality and water storage. Cabomba was detected in Glenbrook Lagoon in the 1990s and by 2012 occupied nearly 100% of the site.

The Glenbrook infestation is one of only two known in the Sydney region, and the only one known in the entire Hawkesbury-Nepean Catchment area. The lagoon was ranked by the National Aquatic Weeds Manage¬ment Group in the top 10 strategic priority sites nation¬ally for control, due to the threat of spread to other important waterways such as the Hawkesbury-Nepean River.

Aerial view of Glenbrook Lagoon before and after the weed reduction program was carried out (Photo: Nearmap).

In January 2023, Council teams and a bush regeneration contractor applied a new aquatic herbicide to treat weed infestations at Glenbrook Lagoon. Significant control of both weeds was achieved, with the reduction in surface Mexican Lily coverage visible in the attached aerial photo, Blue Mountains Mayor, Mark Greenhill said today.

“I congratulate everyone involved in this worthwhile project to preserve the beauty and rich biodiversity at Glenbrook Lagoon. Sustainability is at the forefront of Council’s priorities for our community and this project is a shining example of that,” the Mayor said.

While acknowledging that Cabomba is extremely difficult to eradicate, eradication remains the ultimate goal at Glenbrook Lagoon, he said.

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