(Part 4)

Curly-leaf pondweed hit the Missouri River System in the mid-1990s and has adapted well. 
In fact, it even thrives in North Dakota’s harshest winters.

Greg Power: “It’s an exotic plant that does very well under ice conditions, which makes 
in pretty ideal for North Dakota.”

It also grows in deeper water than most vegetation, which makes it even harder to 
kill...

Power: “The unique thing with curly-leaf is that it can establish its root system 15 
feet deep, so even though a reservoir, you can drop a reservoir 5 or 10 feet, its root 
system still are out deep enough that it can sustain this water drop.”

When the plant dies, it breaks into fragments, which can be carried to other parts of a 
body of water and take root.

Sometimes these plant fragments attach themselves to boat props or trailers and are even 
carried to other lakes and rivers.....

Curly-leaf pondweed has become a blight for riverfront property owners and pleasure 
boaters. It tangles props and makes life miserable for anyone who comes near it.

Chemical treatments like herbicides have worked on curly leaf on a temporary basis. You 
can get rid of it for a year, but it will keep coming back.

Keeping it out of your lake is a much better option.