An aquatic weed that has taken hold in what many of us still refer to as Town Lake has pitted recreational users against the guardians of the environmental health of the body of water in the center of our city, the American-Statesman reports.
Rowers are getting their craft tangled in the flourishing fanwort that also damages the skegs that extend from their boats’ keels, and rental docks want the weed removed so it won’t impede their business. At the same time the City’s Watershed Protection and Review Department feels that the fanwort should remain for its benefits to the lake’s ecology:
It has provided habitat for fish, produced oxygen and trapped sediment that would otherwise cloud the lake.
Fanwort has taken root in Lady Bird Lake due to the reduced flow of water through the Highland Lakes on the Colorado during the recent drought. Both sides are considering solutions that will serve the competing needs.