Waging war on weeds

Arrowhead, a native North American plant, is a highly invasive weed that favours static to slow-flowing water and can quickly spread, clogging waterways.

River Health project officer Corey Wilson said this year, for the first time, aerial surveying had been used to identify ‘‘hot spots’’ along the creeks.

‘‘The flight along the Boosey, lower Broken and Nine Mile creeks was far more efficient; instead of hours and hours of driving, in just two hours we were able to pinpoint the areas to target this year,’’ Mr Wilson said.

‘‘It was also good to see that arrowhead growth in most of the areas in these creeks that we have treated in the past was significantly reduced.’’

This year’s spraying program will mainly focus on the creeks between Walshes Bridge Rd and Kempsters Bridge Rd south of Waaia, complementing Goulburn-Murray Water’s weed management in and along the irrigation channel network.

Goulburn Broken CMA will work with G-MW to carry out the spraying during late summer and early autumn.