Managing Spatterdock on a Cattle Farm
Aquatic Weed and Algae Control Case Study

Location and Acreage:
Boyce, VA | 5.5-Acres

Project Timeframe: 
2016 to 2017

Project Manager:
Shannon Junior, Aquatic Ecologist and Senior Business Development Consultant

Site Description:
This property was previously a cattle farm, but is now used primarily as a private weekend recreational residence. The owner is an avid angler and hired SOLitude Lake Management to develop a Fisheries Management Plan for the lake.

Scope of Work:
When we first visited the pond in 2015, it was about 75% covered with spatterdock, and also had frequent planktonic algae blooms. The pond experiences very low flow during the summer months, has no aeration, and becomes hypoxic throughout most of the water column.

Project Description:
We began managing the spatterdock in 2016, and selected an environmentally sensitive aquatic product for the treatment. We performed a treatment on April 15th when the plants began to appear. The plants exhibited symptoms of treatment within two weeks, and most of them were completely dead within six weeks. We did perform three follow-up foliar treatments for regrowth in some areas later in the season. In 2017, the regrowth has been minimal, and we have been able to easily manage the plants with foliar treatments.