Has anyone dove Aquarena Springs Lately?

[scubashawn123]

I went out there this weekend with a friend and we worked on "Cream of Wheat."

I don't remember ever seeing it that overgrown with algea. It's pretty thick even in the Training area.

Maybe this is the season or whatever. So I thought I'd ask if any of the old timers had been down there recently and had the same opinion.

I was down there on the 17th, and cleared coontails from deep hole, it had grown up and blocked underwater camera with coontail forests and algae everywhere. I thick layer in deep hole right on the path out of the deep hole spring.

Probably due to the reduced flow of the springs due to the drought. We need heavy rains to get things flowing again.

This is the worst I have seen it in the last 2 1/2 years. Volunteer divers are wanted for sure to help out.

Regards,

Shawn O'Shea

 

[driftwood]

Thanks for all the interest! I dropped Ethan a line and I am waiting for a reply. The real key to make this successful is to get the plants out of the lake and we need the cutter boat to do that and that means Ethan has to have the time to drive it. With his class schedule and the fact that weekends will not work well, due to increased glass bottom boat traffic, we are left with doing it on a Friday. As soon as I hear anything, I will let everyone know a firm date.

This will not be a 'fun' dive. Once we start working vis will be 0', you are guaranteed to lose your buddy, you will hear the cutter boat operating close to you and navigation is virtually impossible. All that said, we can remove literally tons of material over the course of a dive or two.

Jeff

 

[RumBum]

When you use this cutter boat are you dumping all the bits of plants back into the water? They easily grow from cuttings. The current method of moving the plants around is simply worthless. The excess plants need to be removed from the water entirely. Previously we used mesh bags to bring plant matter out of the water but those are no longer allowed.

 

[archman]

Get the coontail compacted into a big knot and dose it with a shot of air. It'll get into the upper water column (hopefully without falling apart much), and float downstream. You can gauge how well this *technique* works for you by observing the floating mass for a little while. If it falls apart on its way up or shortly afterwards, you need to practice more. The downstream current in Spring Lake is usually sufficient to move the coontail mass far away, rather quickly.

The "hydrilla killer" is just a lawnmower. It's not supposed to remove the coontail, only control the more outrageous vertical growth. Like all pruners, its use needs to be regular.

I suppose the reminder should also be dropped that coontail is native and its removal in Spring Lake is mostly for aesthetic and boat navigation purposes. Not like that nasty Hydrilla, which I deplore and despise. I spotted an interloping clump in the training area this summer, and became highly agitated.

DIE HYDRILLA!!! DIE DIE DIE

Coontail should be appreciated more. It holds a very special place in the evolution of plants and is truly a unique biological study. One can google or wikipedia it for cool factoids.

 

[driftwood]

When you use this cutter boat are you dumping all the bits of plants back into the water? They easily grow from cuttings. The current method of moving the plants around is simply worthless. The excess plants need to be removed from the water entirely. Previously we used mesh bags to bring plant matter out of the water but those are no longer allowed.

The short answer is yes, there are bits of plants being dumped back into the water, some but not much. The cutter boat is able to remove cubic yards of material at a time, but is only able to reach down 5 or 6' anything deeper divers have to float it to the surface for collection. When Shawn and Erica cleaned up Deep Hole, Ethan told me that the material had built up to over 3' deep. Lot of material to move and bags are easy to fill and slow to get to the shore for final removal. For divers to try to bag the plants is an exercise in futility since I can fill a bag in around a minute on a very bad day. Bags are still used on Hydrilla and other plants, not on the algae and coontail.

Part of me agrees with you that simply moving plants around is worthless until you consider that I am moving plants from a critical area to less sensitive parts of the lake. The springs have to be cleaned to keep the discharge spread over as wide an area as possible. The 'gates' that we use to move from site to site have to be cleared for our safety. Moving plants from those critical areas is justified without removing them from the lake.

Responsible diving in Spring Lake is a crazy patchwork of compromises between good stewardship, common sense, and regulation. I really feel for the people trying to manage that delicate balance. I just dive there, follow the rules, do as much good as I can, and enjoy getting wet.

 

[ZzzKing]

DIE HYDRILLA!!! DIE DIE DIE

I'm thinkin' some professional help may be in order to help you with your anger.

 

[vyvial]

I was there this summer and the weird thing was that it was clear in the training area in the morning but by nightfall, the algae completely filled the training area. Ethan said that was pretty normal.

 

[-=>Larry<=-]

I just realized I'd already committed to Rob for Oct 3 Tx Parks and Wildlife.

I'm still free Fri Oct 17

It's kind of hard to say for sure as I haven't really gotten around to looking at October yet - but I almost have Sept. under control!
I see no reason to have issues wioth Friday 17th - Sat may have me returning to Galveston...

 

[scubashawn123]

Real time here is what it looks like now:


myFOXaustin.com | Underwater Web Cam at Aquarena Center


Remember after dark the picture is dark. All natural lighting for deep hole.




shawn