Henderson Lake going down until November

In an effort to control the growing problem of hydrilla in Henderson Lake, St. Martin Parish Government will lower the level of the lake.
The drawdown – done in conjunction with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources Atchafalaya Basin Program and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – will start within the next two weeks and last until Nov. 1.
Parish President Guy Cormier said they anticipate water levels to get down between six and seven feet at the Lake Pelba gauge on the east side of Henderson Lake at the Interstate 10 bridge. The height on Monday was 9.62 feet, according to the Corps of Engineers’ web site.
Five consecutive years of drawdowns are recommended for Henderson Lake by experts in controlling nuisance aquatic weeds.
Up until 2011, the Corps sprayed weedkiller on the hydrilla. The program was discontinued and Wildlife and Fisheries has been unable to match the federal effort.
Lowering the lake to dry out the tubers, the “roots” of the hydrilla, is not a new strategy. There was an attempt at a drawdown in the fall and winter of 1996-97 but heavy rains defeated it. Drawdowns were recommended by LDWF each year from 1997 to 2000 but they were not supported by the public and were not undertaken.
A successful drawdown in 2000-01 was followed by five successive years of too much rain or too little drawdown, according to the parish’s permit application.