Najas Marina - (Spiney Moss)

This subject is getting to be very serious among

many of the Lake Maloney Property Owners.

A professor from Chadron State College,

Dr. Stephen Rolfsmeier, was a guest speaker

at the LMPOA annual meeting the first year

that it showed up at Lake Maloney in 2016.

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Dr. Rolfsmeier had some great information, but since it was an annual, it was a “wait and see what happens next year”, well a few years have passed and we now know what can happen, it can spread. What was concentrated in one area has made its way towards the shorelines across the Lake. As Rolfsmeier explained, Spiny Naiad is an ecological threat because in forms dense mats of submerged vegetation that chokes out other aquatic plants and is a big problem for boaters and fisherman. Spiny naiad is eaten by geese and ducks and the seeds of the plan can germinate after digestion. Lastly, the seeds live in the seed bank, which means that short times of drawdown or low water are unlikely to be effective in removing this plant. The one good thing about this plant is it makes a great habitat for fish.

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So the question remains for the LMPOA and NPPD is how to eliminate spiny naiad. This year, the LMPOA purchased an aquatic mower which is a motorized lake weed cutter that is in the picture to the right, but the naiad showed up too late and wasn’t able to be used, but hopefully, next year, members of the
Board can try it to see if it will help. The next method of trying to control this
is chemicals, but that will have to be worked out with NPPD to see if that will even be allowed. The next method of trying to control this is chemicals, but that will have to be worked out with NPPD to see if that will even be allowed. The Board will continue to monitor this topic and hopefully, it can be eliminated before it causes some major problems.