Healthy waterways are en essential part of a healthy ecosystem. When invasive water chestnut spreads, that healthy can fade. The St. Lawrence Eastern Lake Ontario Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management, known as SLELO PRISM, is inviting community members to join seasonal water chestnut pulls that help restore access, improve habitat and protect local lakes and rivers.
European water chestnut (Trapa natans L.) is an invasive aquatic plant that was introduced to the Cambridge Botanical Garden in the mid-1800s. It has since spread throughout the northeastern U.S., including New York State, and can be found in more than 40 New York counties.
Water chestnut thrives in the shallow sections of lakes, ponds and slow-moving rivers and streams. It roots itself in the soil and sends up stalks that end in dense floating rosettes of triangular, toothed leaves…