FAIRBANKS — An invasive plant species previously thought to have spread in Interior waterways only around Fairbanks has been spotted north of Nenana.
Staff from federal agencies have confirmed that elodea has been found in Totchaket Slough, a small side stream of the Tanana River about 12 miles from Nenana, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported.
Elodea is a leafy, long-stemmed plant, known to crowd out native species of freshwater flora.
"Just a fragment from somewhere can spread and start somewhere else," Fairbanks Soil and Water Conservation District coordinator Joni Scharfenberg said. "We do not know how it got into Totchaket Slough. There's a lot of speculation but we don't know for sure."
The new outbreak covers more than 95 percent of the surface of the water in a half-mile section of Totchaket Slough, according to Aditi Shenoy, the conservation district's invasive weeds specialist.
Elodea was found in Lake Hood in Anchorage this summer, causing officials to worry that departing aircraft could bring the weed to new sites. The weed has been previously spotted in Chena Slough, Chena Lake and in a small part of the Chena River in west Fairbanks.
A state-led committee plans to poison the elodea previously found in Chena Slough with an herbicide as early as 2016, but the group is still gathering funding for the project.
Fairbanks Soil and Water Conservation District officials are reminding boaters to rinse, drain and dry boats and other gear before putting them in new bodies of water to help prevent the spread of the plant.