Printable VersionLake Bistineau is currently 6.25 feet below pool stage. All 12 gates on the control structure are open at this time, and the water level is decreasing by 2 inches each day. The target depth of the drawdown is 7 feet below pool stage. There are approximately 600 acres of giant...
Lake Bistineau,Update
I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year thus far! Currently, Lake Bistineau is at pool stage. Anglers, duck hunters and lake homeowners have been waiting for this day for quite some time; since September 16, 2011, to be exact. While salvinia has not been...
August 16, 2011
Lake Bistineau is currently 2.5 feet below pool stage due to the lack of rain in the area. Salvinia currently covers a combined area of approximately 25 acres.
LDWF spray crews are working Monday through Thursday, treating the floating fern with herbicides. ...
June 13, 2011
Currently, Lake Bistineau is 16 inches below pool stage. Approximately 40 acres of salvinia is scattered around the lake. We are actively treating giant salvinia and alligator weed harboring salivinia, with herbicides. Although several complaints have been made...
April 20, 2011
Lake Bistineau is currently four feet below pool stage due to lack of rainfall once the gates were closed last May. Overall the lake is in good shape. We have less than 20 acres of giant salvinia on the lake at this time. This is due in part to cold weather as well as...
Luckily, Mother Nature is putting a pounding on the giant salvina in Lake Bistineau with sufficient cold weather. As we observed last year, it takes several weeks for the plants to brown up and fall-out from freeze damage. So, while giant salvinia is still visible we...
Several weeks ago, the gates at the control structure on Lake Bistineau were closed in an effort to slowly increase water levels. Unlike last year, there has been very little precipitation in the watersheds, resulting in no water level increase above the 7 foot drawdown capacity.
As...
The department has requested DOTD’s assistance to close the Lake Bistineau water control gates on Wednesday, July 14, 2010. Fisheries staff are beginning to observe giant salvinia accumulating in some areas of the lake and agreed that it’s time to initiate some water...
As the lake continues to lower to 7 feet below pool stage level, our fisheries staff is preparing to evaluate the lake bottom and acquire sufficient data to plan for lake bottom renovations. Any approved plan to move dirt will require prior approval by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers...
There will be a public meeting to discuss the Lake Bistineau Rehabilitation Plan at the Lake Bistineau State Park, Area 1, Boat Launch Pavilion on April 17, at 9 a.m. Mark McElroy from LDWF will attend the meeting to discuss aspects of the plan and answer questions.
Those...
Temperatures are rising and "green-up" is around the corner. Fishing activity has increased over the last few weeks as the crappie, or white perch run has noticeably commenced. With summer just a few weeks ahead, inquiries about the lake level have increased. The most commonly...
I have received several questions recently regarding the current status of the lake and future plans. I’ll take this opportunity to try and answer these as best as I can.
First, there is some seismic work for gas exploration being conducted on the lake which is why you’re...
Our staff has spent a great deal of time assessing the damage to giant salvinia plants as a result of recent freeze events. Damage to the exposed portion of the plants was extreme. However, just below the surface, the same plants exhibited green and potentially viable plant material. These...
Employees with DOTD successfully removed the debris in front of the control structure gates and subsequently reopened them last week. We anticipate keeping the gates open to resume the drawdown. The colder temperatures expected later this week should aid our efforts to kill more plants. Our...
I will speak with officials at DOTD early next week to see when the gates can be reopened. It is sometimes difficult to get things done during the week of Christmas. I would like to resume the draw down as soon as possible.
There has been a great deal of confusion and misinformation...
Today, the department is requesting the Department of Transportation and Development close the gates at the control structure at their earliest convenience. There are two recommended reasons for the temporary closure. A significant amount of debris has floated down the lake and it either...
The department is poised to finish the final component of a long-range plan to address giant salvinia on Lake Bistineau once the lake’s water level reaches seven feet below pool stage. To date, fall and winter rain events have kept the water level from dropping much below three feet...
Lake levels are still on the rise as a result of heavy rainfall during the last few weeks. Therefore, the drawdown to seven feet below pool stage is behind schedule. The goal of the drawdown is to strand the salvinia plants in the lake, but high water levels have allowed the plants to...
The Department of Transportation and Development opened the gates on the Lake Bistineau water control structure to commence the 2009 drawdown of the lake. The lake level will be reduced by seven feet. However, recent rain events have kept the lake up, extending the amount of time required...
Our friends at DOTD alerted us last week that they will require an additional week to finish their work behind the spillway. The structure is their responsibility, so we will wait patiently for this work to be completed and look forward to Wednesday, Sept. 16 to begin the drawdown....
The development of the management plan to control giant salvinia in Lake Bistineau is progressing and some form of plan draft is expected to be completed within the next couple of weeks. Each week, new information is being gathered and processed by the department’s biological...