EAST PROVIDENCE, RI – The Department of Environmental Management (DEM) is recruiting volunteers to help remove invasive water chestnut plants from the Turner Reservoir in the Rumford section of East Providence. The water chestnut is a virulent aquatic plant that's native to Asia. It has expanded rapidly in the waterbody. Highly aggressive, it forms dense mats that steal sunshine from and ultimately displace native plant species, alter the reservoir habitat for fish and wildlife that depend on it, and interfere with recreational activities such as fishing, boating, and paddling. If not pulled this year, the existing plant population will likely grow too large in 2023 to be effectively controlled by anything but costly herbicide treatments.
DEM will hold four "paddle and pull" events and welcomes civic-minded volunteers who have their own kayaks or canoes and want to help put a dent in the reservoir's water chestnut's population: Saturday, July 23, 8-11 AM; Monday, July 25, 9 AM-12 PM; Tuesday, July 26, 9 AM-12 PM; and Wednesday, July 27, 4-7 PM. For more information, see accompanying flyer. To register to participate, please click here.
"The rapid and aggressive dispersal of water chestnut in Rhode Island is a prime example of how quickly invasive plants can take over in an area," said DEM's Office of Water Resources Environmental Analyst Katie DeGoosh-DiMarzio, who is leading the volunteer events. "Its distribution throughout the state has nearly tripled in just five years, degrading native habitat and ruining opportunities to enjoy local lakes and ponds. We hope that volunteers interested in environmental stewardship will join us and help contain the spread of this destructive invasive plant. Keeping Turner Reservoir clear is essential for continued paddling. It is a beautiful spot for boating, fishing, and wildlife viewing, but by next year plant coverage could be over 10 times worse than this year."
The cyanobacteria advisory that was placed on Turner Reservoir earlier this summer by the Rhode Island Department of Health and DEM has been lifted, and cyanotoxin is not present in detectable concentrations in the waterbody. DEM has been testing the water for the past few weeks and results show conditions are safe again to boat on the water, just in time for the volunteer events.
Volunteer opportunities are available for paddlers using their own canoes or kayaks in the reservoir to lift the plants from the water and collect them in a bucket or laundry basket. Non-boating volunteers also are needed to stay ashore and help unload the containers of plants for disposal and carry buckets of the plant to compost. DEM will provide heavy-duty nitrile gloves for handling the plants, which produce large woody chestnut seeds with four barbed spikes. The plants must be removed before the chestnut seeds completely develop and drop off the plant in August.
The water chestnut (Trapa natans L.) is an annual plant that will only reproduce by seed, so removing it entirely will eliminate further spread. Water chestnut is the only invasive plant that can be managed by hand-pulling. It is critical to manage the population now to remove the plants before they drop seeds, which would further fuel growth of the population. Similar control efforts will be required next year as new seeds may flow into the pond from upstream locations, but removal of the plants this summer is essential to stay ahead of this tireless villain, which will multiply exponentially. Annual efforts have been successful at Belleville Pond (North Kingstown), Sylvestre Pond (Woonsocket), Carl's Pond (Cumberland), Olney and Barney Ponds (Lincoln), Omega Pond (East Providence), Spectacle Pond (North Providence), and Reynolds Pond (Coventry/West Greenwich).
First documented in Rhode Island at Belleville Pond in North Kingstown in 2007, invasive water chestnut has crept throughout the state and its currently found in 19 locations. The thorny water chestnut seeds easily attach to waterfowl and wildlife and hitchhike to new locations. One seed can sprout in the spring and develop into 15 plants, each of which can produce up to 25 new seeds by the fall (300 seeds total). Therefore, it is essential that paddlers and lake enthusiasts learn to identify this plant and immediately report any new sightings by emailing pictures to dem.waterresources@dem.ri.gov. Helpful tips to identify the plant are available here.
For more information on DEM programs and initiatives, visit www.dem.ri.gov. Follow DEM on Facebook, Twitter (@RhodeIslandDEM), or Instagram (@rhodeisland.dem) for timely updates.