Attack of the Hydrilla

CONROE, TX They say non-native Hydrilla now covers 2,000 acres of the lake. The plant is considered disruptive to boaters and an eyesore for homeowners. The volunteers are fighting the Hydrilla with water celery plants.

"They will expand and colonize and will keep a good filtration system going in the water, a good oxygen supply working in the water," said Roy Gunter of the Seven Coves Bass Club. "Give the juvenile fish that hatch within these types of systems an opportunity to grow and mature." Similar efforts have been made before, but the fish ended up eating the water celery and the Hydrilla came back again.

The volunteers say they've learned from the past and will protect the plants with wire mesh cage.

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