Beneficial nuisance on Webber Pond

Webber Pond Association President Frank Richards recently stated in an email to lake residents, “Everyone who has been out in a boat or raked weeds off their shoreline this summer has noticed the extreme proliferation of a long stringy weed. There’s an actual floating island in the northwest bay, so thick you can’t take a boat through it.” Because of his concern, Richards contacted Nate Gray, a biologist with the Maine Department of Marine Resources, asking for him to go to Webber Pond to observe the  proliferation of weeds. “I was pretty sure it was a native plant growing in proliferation because of the drought, slightly lower water, and more sunlight,” Richards said. Gray  confirmed it is as Elodea Canadensis, a common species of aquatic plant in Maine. Its proliferation has some good points. It is sequestering a lot of phosphorus and actually contributing to clearer water this summer.

A “field” of weeds in the northwestern corner of Webber Pond. Photos courtesy of Frank Richards, president of Webber Pond Association.

Nate Gray, a biologist with the Maine Department of Marine Resources holds a handful of the Elodea Canadensis, better known as American Waterweed or Pondweed. Photos courtesy of Frank Richards, president of Webber Pond Association.