The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers crews expanded containment and removal efforts after the invasive aquatic plant giant salvinia was found near the White Cliffs Public Use Area on the Little River, a tributary that flows into Millwood Lake.
rapid response, expanded containment
Agency crews were called Friday by an angler using the ramp at the White Cliffs Campground and dispatched a rapid response team to confirm the sighting, assess the situation and begin containment, Matt Horton, AGFC Aquatic Nuisance Species Coordinator, said in an agency statement. Initial containment covered a 300-foot stretch of shoreline at the campground; subsequent surveys found the plant had spread and crews expanded containment booms to cover 1,900 feet of shoreline around the ramp.
- Removal: AGFC and U.S. Army Corps personnel removed more than 900 pounds of salvinia and hauled it to dry ground for disposal.
- Spread: Crews found fragments up to a mile upstream and downstream from the campground.
- Treatment plan: An EPA-approved aquatic herbicide will be applied to target visible salvinia and associated shoreline vegetation, followed by a coordinated controlled burn with the Corps.
“After being called on Friday by a local angler using the ramp at the White Cliffs Campground, we sent out our rapid response team to confirm the sighting, assess the situation, and begin containing the spread,”
Horton warned that even tiny fragments can reproduce, noting the Little River shoreline’s dense vegetation can conceal fragments. He said the herbicide application is intended to reduce surface salvinia and to kill cutgrass and shoreline plants that could harbor fragments. Once that vegetation is reduced, AGFC will coordinate with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to conduct a controlled burn to eliminate fragments trapped in dead plant mats.
partnership and next steps
Tiffany Smith, Millwood Lake Operations Project Manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said the Corps is committed to fighting the infestation to protect the fishery, recreation and water supply services Millwood Lake provides. Agency crews searched the river and removed material throughout the weekend, and containment and treatment efforts were planned to continue through the week.
The AGFC statement said the Corps had at least four staff working alongside AGFC teams to search for and collect salvinia since the discovery, and that containment efforts will continue as surveys proceed.
