JUNEAU -- State fishery officials plan "saltwater shock treatments" to tame weeds at two popular Juneau lakes.

Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologist Dan Teske told the Juneau Empire that weeds along Twin Lakes, the manmade lakes between downtown Juneau and the city airport, will be targeted by opening up culverts and letting in sea water from Gastineau Channel.

The shoreline of the man-made lakes is choked with water milfoil, an indigenous plant that usually does not proliferate.

"During our Family Fishing Day last year, we had hundreds of people out there trying to fish that couldn't," Teske said.

The event takes place in June after the department stocks the lakes with king salmon.

Reducing milfoil also will improve boating and swimming, Teske said.

Milfoil decreased for several years after the lakes were drained for maintenance in 2000. Higher salinity levels, as well as exposure to air and freezing temperatures, helped kill some of the weeds, according to biologists.

The lakes will drain and refill with the neap tides for about one week. An 18-foot tide at the end of the month will completely fill the basins and gates will be closed afterward, Teske said.