Project seeks to put native plants back into area lake

WAPPAPELLO LAKE, Mo. -- After three years, officials with the Missouri Department of Conservation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Wappapello Lake are continuing their pilot program to reintroduce native vegetation back into the lake.

Since the summer of 2005, officials, with help from the Wappapello Bassmasters Club, have been trying to determine what types of plants will grow successfully in the back coves of the flood control lake, which faces constant wave action and numerous water level fluctuations.

Wappapello lake ranger Eric Lemons said the plantings should serve several purposes such as improving fisheries by creating better cover, improving clarity by keeping siltation down and controlling erosion along the lake's wave-prone shorelines.

Fisheries management biologist Mark Boone said shallow water vegetation increases the number of small invertebrates available as food for small fish, which in turn creates more food for larger fish.

At the same time, the plants create shade, cooling the shallow water, which warms much quicker than deeper water.

Among the plant species being tested at Wappapello, Boone said, are water willow, white water lily, spatterdock, American pondweed, largeleaf pondweed, squarestem spikerush, water stargrass and wild celery.

"We're trying a multitude of plants species to see which ones can adapt and survive," said Wappapello Lake Natural Resources Specialist James Gracey.

Paul Davis/Daily American Republic Wappapello Lake Ranger Eric Lemons checks on a young stand of water willow planted along the shoreline in the Rockwood Point area of the lake. Lemons is hopeful the willow can become established enough to help prevent erosion from wave action, like that seen on the open bank

The water willow, Boone said, is being planted along the shorelines "to protect the shoreline in high wave action areas."

Water willow, Lemons said, "is one of the better plants for erosion control and it's easy to grow." If the water willow becomes established, Boone said, it will spread along the shorelines and thicken, creating a buffer against the constant waves created by wind and recreational boaters on the lake.

"It appears the water willow will do really well," said Gracey.

Lemons is hopeful the water willow will grow enough to cover the exposed clay areas of the shoreline.

"What I'd like to see in the future," Lemons said, "is to not see these clay banks."

What Boone, Gracey and Lemons are trying to figure out is exactly what species will grow and what manner of planting will most likely succeed. In order to make those determinations, they have plantings located in multiple areas around the lake at various water depths.

This year, the plantings occurred in the Rockwood Point, Paradise Point, Strickland Point and Mayham Hollow areas.

Most of the plants, Lemons said, are grown in pots at the lake's project office before being transplanted into the lake.

In the three years since the experimental program began, the trio have seen several dramatic events, which could have severely impacted their work, but have not appeared to have done much harm.

"We've had two horrible years for growth," said Lemons. "In 2006, it got warm early, then it got cold, then we had high water. In 2008, we had a big ice storm, followed by near-record floods."

Another factor to be considered, Lemons said, is the lake's annual winter drawdown and its effect of the plants. More time is needed, however, to determine the effects of drawdowns.

Wappapello's flooding, however, could be a problem, according to Boone.

"High water is the hard part," Boone said. "With 10-20 feet of water over the plants, shading out the sunlight, they're not going to do well."

The longer high water covers the plants, Boone said, the more likely they will not survive.

Another problem that's reared its head is predation.

What Boone, Gracey and Lemons have found is turtles, carp and other predators will readily eat the young vegetation if it is not protected, so each test planting now is surrounded by a wire cage enclosure.

"We hope to get enough established that we can remove the cages," said Gracey. If the plants spread out and prosper, they would regenerate enough to counteract the effects of predation and would not need the enclosures, he said.

After three years of testing, officials believe some plant species will thrive, including water lily, spatterdock and squarestem spikerush, while others are not establishing well. Largeleaf pondweed hasn't done well anywhere it's been planted, Boone said.

Still, more time is needed to draw definite conclusions, and Gracey expects testing to continue for "a minimum of another two years to see what happens, but more likely three years."

Not everyone is happy with the program, however, as some people have voiced concern that more vegetation will hamper recreational boating on the lake.

Wappapello, Lemons said, was covered decades ago with non-native vegetation that matted over much of the lake and proved difficult for boaters to navigate. Fortunately, that problem was eradicated.

The vegetation being tested now grows in shallow water and along the shoreline and is very controllable, Lemons insisted, and will not overtake the lake like many species of non-native plants can.

"We're planting all native plants because we want a controllable population of vegetation," Lemons said.

For the foreseeable future, Lemons, Gracey and Boone will continue to check on their plants periodically, mostly in spring and late summer.

"In the spring, we want to see what kind of emergence we're getting, and in late summer we can see what kind of growth we're getting," Gracey said.

"Right now, everything is still experimental to make sure it will work," said Boone. "The thing is, we've got to get this stuff established and it takes about three and a half years to do so."

Ultimately, officials hope to establish plantings on a wide-scale basis around the lake, where suitable.