Feds Award $400K To Fight Invasive Weeds In Finger Lakes

SENECA FALLS, N.Y. (AP) — A federal program has awarded $400,000 to fight an invasive aquatic weed that could choke out boating, fishing and other recreation in the Finger Lakes.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will use the funds for herbicide treatment in Cayuga (ky-YOO'-gah) Lake. Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer campaigned for the funding, which comes from the Aquatic Plant Control Research Program.

A fast-growing aquatic weed called hydrilla has recently spread across a 27-acre (10-hectare) area in Cayuga Lake. Schumer says it can make boating and fishing nearly impossible.

Schumer says the federal intervention is the first step of a comprehensive multiyear strategy to combat the plant.