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Aquatic plants can play a major role as a food source for aquatic invertebrates and other wildlife as well as juvenile and adult fish habitat. This can be dependent on the species and abundance of both the fish and the vegetation present. Aquatic plants can also improve water clarity and quality and can reduce rates of shoreline erosion, sediment resuspension and help prevent spread of nuisance exotic plants. Additionally, anglers equate aquatic vegetation to growing larger and catching more fish like Largemouth Bass. Additional aquatic habitat in a reservoir can increase overall angler satisfaction. These desirable qualities make efforts to establish native aquatic plants in North Carolina water bodies worthwhile.

In 2017, recreational fishing in the inland waters of North Carolina generated $4,182,334,000 of total economic activity. As reservoirs age, they begin to lose a significant portion of their aquatic habitat due to siltation, eroding banks, decaying of large wood debris and poor water quality. This loss of habitat can affect the quality of the fishery, which could have detrimental economic impacts throughout the community and state. The enhancement of aquatic habitat and fishing opportunities should translate to enhanced quality of life for anglers and other recreational users as well as increased economic impact for the citizens of North Carolina and surrounding communities.

The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (Commission) has been establishing native aquatic vegetation in reservoirs for decades. The initial efforts were sporadic and lacked coordination among agency personnel. In 2012, the Commission formally decided to prioritize the establishment of native aquatic vegetation in reservoirs. Since that time, the Commission has planted over 20,000 plants in eleven waterbodies across North Carolina. The Commission currently has eight vegetation establishment projects (Graham-Mebane Lake, Oak Hollow Lake, Hyco Lake, Tuckertown Reservoir, Harris Lake, Lake Gaston, Muskellunge spawning oxbow lake restoration on the French Broad, and Green Swamp Pond) (see attached project location map) with another three projects planned.

Initial revegetation efforts used plants transplanted from local waterbodies, purchased from commercial vendors, and/or grown in an unused fish hatchery raceway. In 2018, a small-scale aquatic plant nursery was constructed at our facility in Mebane, NC to address increasing demand and provide quality control of planting material. While this nursery has expanded our capability to establish native aquatic plant communities in our reservoirs, we are currently limited to a production capacity of 3,500 plants annually, and we have limited capabilities to overwinter plants or maintain self-sustaining on-site sources of various plant species. This requires plants to be harvested from the field, thus increasing the risk of introducing non-target and nuisance species to the nursery. The current nursery is not able to meet the volume of plants requested for 2023. Given the continual expansion of our planting projects, this deficit will continue unless our nursery facilities are expanded.

The construction of a larger facility will increase plant production capability as well as provide a better capability to overwinter plants and create sustainable on-sites sources of material. An expanded nursery will also provide more space for aquatic plant research that will be used to increase the overall effectiveness of our in-reservoir habitat enhancement projects. The expanded capacity will also allow us to provide more education and outreach opportunities at the nursery facility and at individual reservoirs.

• Maintain a sufficient stock of plants to produce and plant 3,500 plants (8,000 sq. ft. of founder colonies) at eight waterbodies in 2024 and plant 5,000 plants (13,500 sq. ft. of founder colonies) in nine reservoirs in 2025.
• Expand the nursery facility at the Commission’s Sykes Depot in Mebane, North Carolina in 2024 by creating a larger facility that would include building a 30ft x 100ft greenhouse, creating a 20ft x 100ft grow area outside the greenhouse with troughs and growing tanks, a well for water supply, and a small storage shed.
• Provide education and outreach opportunities by holding two education and outreach events at the nursery in 2024 and 2025 and providing education on the benefits of aquatic vegetation in reservoirs at the six reservoir revegetation projects each year.
• Install a sign or banner at the new greenhouse facility that recognizes all funding partners once the facility is completed in 2024.
• Maintain a balanced and popular fishery in the reservoirs with vegetation establishment projects by maintaining or improving the relative abundance, size structure, condition, recruitment, and growth of Largemouth Bass and Crappie populations.

The Commission’s current nursery facility consists of a small 16ft x 30ft greenhouse with six 3ft x 8ft toughs, and an outside yard with nine 4ft x 12ft troughs, ten 300gal stock tanks and five 100gal stock tanks (see attached photos). We currently grow nine plant species that include emergent, rooted floating leaf and submergent plants (see attached species list).

The proposed facility upgrades include building a 30ft x 100ft greenhouse, creating a 20ft x 100ft grow area outside the greenhouse with troughs and growing tanks, a well for water supply, and a small storage shed. A map of the proposed nursery upgrades, picture of the greenhouse and a detailed description are attached. The Commission will obtain all federal, state and county permits necessary to upgrade the nursery facility and complete revegetation projects.

Design and engineering for the new facility should be completed by December 2023 with construction completed by August 2024. The capacity of the nursery will expand over time from 3,500 plants in 2024 to 5,000 plants in 2025, up to 12,000 plants by 2027. The added capacity will allow an additional revegetation project in 2025 and expand the vegetation establishment program in years to come.

Successful establishment of native aquatic vegetation in reservoirs can take 5−10 years. Of the eight ongoing revegetation projects, six are in reservoirs, one project is using native submerged vegetation to create spawning habitat in sloughs for Muskellunge on the French Broad River and one is creating mating habitat for the Magnificent Ramshorn snail. Goals for each project are waterbody specific; however, the primary goals for reservoir projects are to establish self-sustaining and expanding native plant communities in reservoirs that can provide habitat for juvenile and adult fish, and improve angler enjoyment, engagement, and success.

Establishing native aquatic vegetation is completed in two phases. Phase 1 involves developing a habitat enhancement plan for each reservoir that includes a list of resilient plant species for vegetation establishment, mapping existing vegetation and planting and monitoring a variety of plant species within and outside of small protective fenced exclosures. Monitoring during Phase 1 will help ascertain the levels of protection needed from grazers and determine which species will likely result in the successful establishment of founder colonies. This information will dictate the best course of action to take during subsequent growing seasons (Phase 2). The size and number of protective exclosures will be expanded in Phase 2. Once established, these colonies should expand by either vegetative spreading from the colony or by formation of new colonies from fragments and/or seed disbursement.

Success of the project will be measured by expansion of the nursery, number plants produced, establishment of on-site source material at the nursery, number of plants established in the reservoir as well the resulting areal coverage in each reservoir, linear feet of shoreline of aquatic habitat enhanced as well as number of outreach and education events, and ultimately maintaining a quality fishery at each reservoir.

All native vegetation projects are monitored annually for planting success as well as the overall site quality using a Commission developed qualitative assessment tool. Additionally, we measure overall impact to each reservoir (increase in aquatic plant coverage) using GIS-based surveys on a five-year basis.

Largemouth Bass and crappie populations are routinely monitored in each project reservoir for changes in relative abundance, size structure, condition, recruitment, and growth. These surveys provide concurrent fisheries data to be compared to the results of our habitat enhancement efforts.

Public participation for each project is tracked. A creel survey on Harris Lake is being proposing to determine, in part, the public’s perception of the Commission’s habitat enhancement efforts at this reservoir.

Additionally, we are anticipating longer term benefits of a new plant nursery for research and development purposes. The gains made through research done at the nursery will be measured and should yield increasing successes over time with our reservoir habitat projects.

The nursery and vegetation establishment projects provide a great opportunity to instill a conservation ethic in the community. Educational events for interns and community organizations are routinely held at the nursery to educate youth and the public on the benefits of aquatic plants, fisheries science, and plant propagation techniques. The nursery is on property adjacent to the NC Cooperative Extension Service’s Buster Sykes Demonstration Farm. We partner with Extension Service personnel to educate local citizens and individuals in their Master Gardner’s Program. Additionally, we plan to use youth volunteers and civic organizations to assist with nursery operations. A larger facility will allow us to continue these efforts and allow for larger groups of volunteers to participate in our native plant propagation programs.

Vegetation establishment projects require considerable effort to be successful. The Commission, in partnership with NC B.A.S.S. Conservation and the Lake Gaston Association, has actively recruited high school, college and adult fishing clubs and local residents to assist with revegetation efforts. As an example, citizens who have participated in the revegetation effort at Lake Gaston have demonstrated a more awareness of aquatic nuisance species issues, water quality monitoring and reservoir management. These projects give local citizens more ownership of their local reservoir and may help improve angler recruitment. Promoting revegetation efforts in underutilized municipal owned reservoirs will help highlight recreational opportunities and hopefully increase adjoining municipal park usage and revenue for these municipalities.
The Commission will promote the revegetation efforts and our partners through reports, fact sheets, magazine articles, press releases, and social media posts, including internet-based videos, to inform our constituents about the aquatic habitat work we are conducting in North Carolina. A new nursery facility will have a banner identifying major funding partners. Additionally, all vegetation sites are marked with educational habitat signs that identify project’s funding sources.