FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM County worker Harold Komoku operates a front loader to scoop the alien waterweed Salvinia molesta out of Lake Wilson.

Lingle pledges help
to clear Lake Wilson

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By Diana Leone
dleone@starbulletin.com

Gov. Linda Lingle pledged support yesterday to a multiagency effort to clear alien waterweeds from Lake Wilson, but stopped short of calling the situation an emergency.

"She said she appreciated being briefed on it, and was very positive" about efforts being coordinated by the state Department of Land & Natural Resources, said Linda Figueira, administrative assistant to Senate President Robert Bunda (D, Wahiawa-North Shore).

Lingle met with Bunda, Rep. Marcus Oshiro (D, Wahiawa) and City Councilman Donovan Dela Cruz yesterday morning and asked DLNR Director Peter Young to continue working with other state, federal and local government offices to solve the problem, Lingle spokesman Russell Pang said.

The 300-acre Lake Wilson is more than 90 percent covered with Salvinia molesta, an escaped aquarium fern that is considered a noxious weed. The mission is to reduce the coverage to 10 percent by July, to avoid a fish kill.

Young said yesterday that he was writing letters to formalize agreements with agencies that have pledged to help.

"We're recognizing a sense of urgency and know that action is going to require the cooperation of many people," Young said. "We're not asking any one group to do everything, nor should we expect the DLNR to do everything."

Likely participants include the city providing an excavator; the state Health Department assessing health risks from the weed, planned eradication methods and potential fish kills; the state and federal agriculture departments testing whether an imported weevil can safely be used to control the plant in Hawaii; the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers providing technical assistance; and Dole Foods continuing to provide land to put the plant on after removal from the lake.

There may be a way to use the labor of state prisoners, the National Guard and concerned citizens, Young said.

"I don't know how this started, but some people have a suspicion that someone emptied the contents of a home aquarium into the lake" and that the Salvinia took off from there, Young said. "We need to be careful about things like this."

The weed was first seen in significant amounts in early 2002 and has grown exponentially since.

"I live out there and see that every day," Bunda said. "It just makes my heart go down."