By Dee Grenert Editor
CULVER — When you look for something, you generally want to find it.
Those on the lookout for hydrilla in Lake Maxinkuckee, though, hope their search comes up empty.
Hydrilla, a potentially harmful invasive species, appeared in Rochester’s Lake Manitou last year. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) closed the Rochester body of water to the public last fall, and expects to start treating the lake later this month.
The discovery of hydrilla, which creates thick layers of vegetation that destroy fish and wildlife habitat, in Lake Manitou — a part of the Tippecanoe River watershed like Lake Maxinkuckee — puts the Culver lake at risk.

“There’s a big chance the plant has left Lake Manitou,” Lake Maxinkuckee Environmental Council (LMEC) Executive Director Tina Hissong said during a luncheon April 11 at the Culver-Union Twp. Public Library for people who work around Lake Maxinkuckee. “We just have to wait to see where it shows up. Hopefully, it isn’t here. Hydrilla could change the way we do business.
“We’re trying to increase the diversity of plant life in the lake,” she added. “The more diversity we have, the harder it will be for hydrilla to take hold.”
While indigenous to Africa, Australia and parts of Asia, hydrilla entered the United States for use in domestic aquariums. It took hold in Florida lakes during the 1960s, most likely the result of an aquarium dump.
Hydrilla plants generally contain five 1- to 2-centimeter leaves with serrated edges, whorled around the stem. They also grow nut-like tubers on the roots.
Hydrilla currently thrives in the southern United States, but its identification in Lake Manitou is its first in the Midwest. According to Hissong, cold northern winters were previously thought to be a buffer against the otherwise hardy hydrilla.
“That’s obviously not the case, since it’s in Lake Manitou,” Hissong said. “Hydrilla likes all conditions. It grows in high light. It grows in low light. It grows in high-nutrient conditions. It grows in low-nutrient conditions.
“Even the fish don’t like it because it shades out light and doesn’t allow much oxygen,” she continued. “It’s very thick. I was talking to a guy who tried to get from a dock to the middle of Lake Manitou. He couldn’t get there in his boat.”
Even with hydrilla’s ability to grow in a variety of conditions, its isolation, thus far, to the Tippecanoe River Watershed in the Midwest provides an opportunity for the DNR.
“Because it’s such an isolated spot, the DNR is being very aggressive,” Hissong noted. “This may be the place it gets eradicated.”
And that eradication, Hissong said, requires the attention of each of Lake Maxinkuckee’s patrons. She urged boaters to remove all plants and drain all water from their watercraft before launching into Lake Maxinkuckee.
LMEC is also printing cards to aid lake users in identifying the weed. While Hissong said hydrilla won’t appear — if it appears at all — until July or August, she wants everyone in the area to stay aware and to keep their eyes open for the species.
“You’re going to get to a point where you’ll be sick of hearing about hydrilla,” she said. “That’s what I’m going for is the saturation effect.”
LMEC also plans to conduct a hydrilla identification workshop in June.