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🐟 Austin releases carp to battle hydrilla

Asher Price

Gray, choppy water with white foam; a pair of fish flying from a black pipe into the water. — Carp shooting into Lake Austin on May 1. Photo: Courtesy Austin Watershed Protection Department.

Hoping to manage hydrilla, a non-native aquatic plant, the city of Austin on May 1 released 2,790 sterile grass carp into Lake Austin

State of play: Hydrilla, which can choke water intake pipes and be a general nuisance to boaters, is growing in approximately 37% of the lake, up from 30% in September.

Grass carp prefer to eat hydrilla over other plants, according to the city's watershed protection department. The latest release increases the population of carp from five to eight fish per acre of hydrilla.

Flashback: In July 1999, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) first documented 23 acres of hydrilla in Lake Austin.

Stunning stat: In mid-February of this year, a TPWD survey estimated 592 acres of hydrilla in Lake Austin.

Warm weather and fertilizer runoff have contributed to the recent hydrilla growth, according to city officials.

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🐟 Austin releases carp to battle hydrilla

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