Aquatic Plants

Aquatic plants are found in waterways across Central New York and play an important role in maintaining water quality and fish habitat. Plants are an important necessity for healthy lakes, ponds and streams! Although plants perform many valuable functions - such as providing food and shelter to aquatic animals, releasing oxygen into the water, & reducing shoreline erosion and water turbidity - some aquatic plants can become too abundant and lead to problems for shoreline homeowners, boaters, swimmers and anglers.

Invasive plants are those that grow excessively, to the point of crowding out other types of plants. Invasive plants, such as Water Chestnut and Eurasian Watermilfoil can grow so aggressively that native, beneficial varieties of plants are pushed out. Most invasive plants are not historically found in New York State. Non-native invasives are transported to new areas by people, equipment and animals.

Cooperative Extension offers a variety of programs and educational materials to help homeowners and community groups understand invasive aquatic plants, how to stop their spread, and how to manage established infestations.

Adopt-a-Shoreline/Weeds Watch Out!

The Adopt-a-Shoreline/Weeds Watch Out! Program, also known as W²O, is an education and outreach program that was developed to stop the spread of invasive aquatic plants across CNY.W²O! Volunteers attend training workshops where they learn to identify weeds and monitor weed infestations. Once trained, volunteers select an area of water to “adopt.” Each adopted area is monitored by volunteers, who report important information such as the type of plants found, presence of invasive plants, and degree of infestation. In this way, volunteers play a valuable role in monitoring CNY waterways so that new infestations can be detected immediately and quickly dealt with. Check out the W²O! Website for more information on plant biology, control methods, volunteer data, and upcoming training workshops.


Water Chestnut Management

Water Chestnut is an annual, floating aquatic plant that is invasive in New York State and the northeast U.S. One of the most amazing and troublesome features of this plant is how quickly it seems to clog infested areas.

In CNY, water chestnut is in the western end of Oneida Lake, the Three River System and Sodus Bay on Lake Ontario. As of 2004, no infestations have been found in the Finger Lakes.

Additional reading about water chestnut, as well as other invasive aquatic plants, is available on the publications page.

Want to help monitor a section of shoreline for water chestnut and other invasive aquatic plants? Check out the Volunteer page to learn about the “Adopt-A-Shoreline” program!

To report a water chestnut infestation, download a report form and submit your information to CCE by mail or email.

Download the Water Chestnut Management Plan


Eurasian Watermilfoil



Eurasian watermilfoil is a long, slender plant that grows underwater. It has a round, light colored stem with flat, feather-like leaves. In water less than 30-35 feet deep, watermilfoil can form dense stands that often reach to the surface.

Once established, there is no known way to completely eradicate this plant from a lake. A number of strategies have been used by homeowners and lake associations—all of them require a permit from the DEC.

Researchers at Cornell University are experimenting with aquatic insects that feed on milfoil and may some day be used as a control mechanism.

Additional reading about how to manage milfoil, as well as other invasive aquatic plants, is available on the publications page.
Learn more about milfoil research at Cornell University http://www.invasive.org/eastern/biocontrol/6EurasianMilfoil.html