ITHACA (AP) -- Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens says emergency action is needed to stop an invasive water weed from spreading throughout the state and into the Great Lakes.
The invader is hydrilla. The long, stringy plant can grow so thickly in a waterway that paths have to be mowed for boats to get through. So far, it has showed up in the Cayuga Lake inlet. Ithaca city workers started sending divers to pull up the plant last summer.
Now it turns out that pulling it up could help it spread, because every little piece that breaks off can float away and take root.
The state DEC has adopted an emergency rule to allow use of an herbicide when the plant reaches a certain growth stage in June.
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