Target Weeds Other high priority species

1. Target WeedsOther high priority species Water lettuce Sagittaria Water hyacinth

2. Eurasian Water milfoil Water soldiers Egeria

3. Early detection success! Port Macquarie - Now 99% Alligator Weed Free!

4. Early detection success! Casino - Now 99% Alligator Weed Free!

5. How can Waterwatch assist? Proposed methodology: • Surveillance for aquatic weeds can be conducted in association with other Waterwatch monitoring or field activities • Volunteers can attend training to identify 6 or more key aquatic weeds using a range of identification resources • Volunteers can conduct 10 min inspection of a site - presence/absence of aquatic weeds recorded • Report infestations to your local weeds authority or through the web monthly as registered users- Weed Spotters

6. How to assess waterways for aquatic weeds Step 1 -Familiarise with target aquatic weeds, key identification features and read aquatic weed identification resources. Step 2 - Select the site to be assessed. • Aquatic weeds thrive best in slow moving water such as lakes, farm dams, agricultural channels and drains, wetlands and high nutrient levels and sunlight availability. • Invasion pathways tend to be places that have high accessibility such as bridge crossings, public parks, boat ramps, popular fishing spots parks Step 3 – Determine best time to survey. Surveillance can be conducted during seasons where plants are easiest to detect e.g. when flowering. At no time should monitoring be undertaken if there is any threat to personal safety- during floods etc.

7. How to assess waterways for aquatic weeds Step 4 -Inspect site for aquatic weeds, ideally on both sides of the stream, checking around logs, snags where aquatic weeds may be trapped from Previous flooding. • Floating weeds (e.g. salvinia) - scan the water’s surface, and near banks amongst other vegetation. Binoculars are sometimes useful. • Submerged weeds (e.g. cabomba)- closer inspection is required as such plants may not be obvious from a distance. You may have to use an implement or enter the water to get samples for determination. • Emergent or semi terrestrial weeds (e.g. alligator weed) - they may occur as clumps growing on the bank, or over water near the bank, or both, or they may be straggly plants amongst other vegetation along the banks.

8. What we can do for Waterwatch • Training – willing coordinators and volunteers provided with identification, survey and collection training • Identification material – Weedecks identification manual, other • Technical support & feedback • Assessment performance

9. Thank you! By knowing the key aquatic weed threats and keeping an eye out for them, Waterwatch and community groups can play an important role in the detection of aquatic weed outbreaks.

10. Fiona McPherson Project Officer – Aquatic Weeds Early Detection Ph: 02 6640 1692 M: 0427 923 186 fiona.mcpherson@dpi.nsw.gov.au Thankyou!