BALDWINSVILLE — Onondaga County’s plan to spray 70 acres of water chestnuts in the Seneca River has run aground thanks to increased regulations and slashed funding from New York State.
Most summers, the county plans to spray the herbicide Clearcast (imazamox) in sections of the Seneca River in the towns of Lysander, Van Buren and Geddes.
“It really runs from Cross Lake all the way through the system to the town of Clay,” Onondaga County Legislator Brian May told the Messenger.
The water chestnut (Trapa natans) is an invasive species originally found in Europe, Asia and Africa. According to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, water chestnuts were first brought to the United States in the 1800s as ornamental plants. But behind the water chestnut’s rosette of serrated leaves and dainty white flowers was a threat to boaters, swimmers and the ecosystem.
Rooted to the bottom of shallow lakes, ponds and rivers, water chestnuts grow into large mats that choke out native aquatic plants and pose obstacles to boats. Each rosette produces as many as 20 spiny nuts that can injure swimmers. When water chestnuts decompose, they can reduce oxygen and kill aquatic life.
May said New York State has cut funding that the county relies on to spray for water chestnuts. He and his fellow legislator, Ken Bush Jr., tried to close the gap at the county level.
“Ken Bush and I worked really hard during our 2021 budget process to fund it on the county side,” May said. “Now we’re finding there’s more hoops that we need to jump through than last year.”
Onondaga County is hoping to secure a permit for mechanical harvesting. The Environmental Protection Agency requires the county to submit a pre-filing notice to the DEC, which must hold the request for 30 days before acting on it. The DEC permit for chemical treatment requires a 30-day public comment period, and fees accompany the permitting process.
“Now with all this bureaucracy, we’re probably going to miss the window for spraying,” May said.
Mechanical harvesting, while more efficient than removing water chestnuts by hand, poses the problem of disposal. May said that in the past, Emmi Farms took water chestnuts and composted them.
“It’s not going to be as easy as it has been in the past to keep these things at bay,” he said.
As summer looms ahead — typically, Onondaga County treats the river between July and September — the county’s next hope is hand-pulling the water chestnuts.
“You’ve literally got people in boats pulling up water chestnuts,” May said. “My neighbors let my kids use the river at their whim and one of the things I make them do is pull water chestnuts at their dock.”
According to the DEC’s website, the agency “is currently funding research on biocontrol — a study of the effectiveness of predator insects from water chestnut’s native range” to control the invasive plants. Research on the potential of the waterlily leaf beetle (Galerucella nymphaeae) is ongoing at Cornell University.
May said the Onondaga County Soil and Water Conservation District is determined to win the water chestnut battle even “if it’s a bunch of high school kids at minimum wage pulling water chestnuts into canoes.”
“That agency has a ‘where there’s a will there’s a way’ mentality,” he said. “They do an amazing job in so many ways that nobody knows about. It’s incredible.”
Protecting the Seneca River from water chestnuts is important from environmental, economic and recreational perspectives.
“You look at what an asset the river is to Lysander and Van Buren — you’ve got to protect it,” May said. “People are so hungry to get back to normal life get outside with their boats.”
The DEC encourages boaters and fishers to properly drain, dry and decontaminate their equipment, trailers and boats to reduce the spread of aquatic invasive species. To learn more, visit dec.ny.gov/docs/lands_forests_pdf/aiswatercfs.pdf.
