(Anita) Anglers should notice significant improvements at Lake Anita and Lake Manawa following the Iowa DNR’s efforts to control rapidly spreading vegetation. DNR Fisheries Biologist John Lorenzen says that, after receiving complaints, the DNR hired a drone to spray 105 acres of lotus at Lake Manawa and 45 acres of white water lily at Lake Anita. Lorenzen says the vegetation had spread rapidly over the past five years.
Lorenzen says the DNR expected about 20 percent of the vegetation to return following last year’s treatment. He says the agency planned a two-year treatment program, with the second treatment taking place one year after the first. Lorenzen says the best time to treat emergent aquatic plants such as lotus, lilies, and cattails is now through early fall. He says the DNR plans to conduct the second treatment later this month at Lake Manawa and Lake Anita, as well as on a few acres at Cold Springs in Lewis.
