The city of Salem is treating the Willamette Slough for an invasive water plant and is advising people to steer clear of the slough Sept. 13 to 17, 2021. (Courtesy/city of Salem)
The city of Salem is asking visitors to Minto Brown Island Park not to access the Willamette Slough as they spray herbicide to get rid of an invasive water plant, Ludwigia.
A contractor will be spraying herbicide from canoes and the shore from Sept. 13-17. Treatment will start near the slough mouth and move south. The city said majority of the work to be completed Monday and Tuesday.
People are advised to steer clear of the slough to limit exposure to herbicide. Treated plants will show signs of a blue-green dye.
Ludwigia, also called Uruguayan water primrose, forms dense mats in slow-moving backwater channels, oxbow lakes, and sloughs. The yellow-flowered plant has the potential to choke entire waterways, severely restricting recreational access, degrading water quality and creating an environment that is unfriendly to native fish and wildlife, the city said on its website.
Salem is working with Willamette Riverkeeper to reduce the amount of Ludwigia where they will only need to pull it out by hand, not using herbicide.
This is the second of three years of treatment in the slough and the city said the impact is already noticeable.
The Willamette Slough will undergo its third and final year of treatment in the summer of 2022.
-Saphara Harrell
