Hydrilla menace

Our treasured lakes and rivers have come under attack by an invasive plant — hydrilla — that threatens not only those environmental resources but also poses a threat to local economies, to real estate values and to recreational opportunities.

The Journal has dedicated front-page coverage to this menacing invasive in a series of articles by Debra Aleksinas that concludes in this issue. In fact, Aleksinas has been writing about this fast-growing aquatic weed since it was discovered in East Twin Lake early last summer during a water quality visit near the public boat launch at O’Hara’s Landing Marina. By September last year the plant was identified as the Connecticut River variant of hydrilla vericillata. One rapid response was an immediate moratorium on boating at Lakeville Lake. The boat launch remained closed for the 2024 season.

As summer arrived, more preventative measures were taken at Twin Lakes to stop the spread of hydrilla. Others joined the fight with cautionary decisions. The Ostrander Guest Beach at Mount Riga and all campsites were closed for the 2024 season, and is expected to remain closed throughout the 2025 season. Besides the threat to the environments of Mount Riga’s Riga Lake and South Pond, the namesake organization, Mount Riga, Inc., noted that it lacks the financial resources to monitor and/or combat hydrilla. The Twin Lakes Association has said it anticipates spending as much as $300,000 on the problem in the 2024 season, a tenfold leap in spending.

Just as the Twin Lakes Association and the host of local, state and federal officials have stepped up to recognize the hydrilla threat and to combat it with a joint effort, The Journal remains dedicated to maintaining a focus on this invasive threat to our environment, and in turn to explain how an ecological disaster can become a threat to a community’s economic well being.

In recent years, The Journal has focused on a core mission to focus on our community’s needs for housing, education, healthcare, government, sports and the arts — and add to that a healthy environment. We believe that a community’s health depends on all of the above.

We congratulate Debra Aleksinas for being the first to report on the hydrilla outbreak at East Twin Lake, the first known lake in the state to become infested with the Connecticut River strain. Our readers can thank her as well for her watchful eye on this problem. We salute the coalition of local, state and federal officials who have brought an urgent focus to the problem, and especially the Twin Lakes Association and its leadership for jumping into action when the threat first surfaced.

Our lakes and rivers, our wildlife, our recreational opportunities that provide not only outdoor fun but also promote a healthy state of mind, and our local business economy is ultimately at stake when our natural resources are attacked.