NAME:
COMPANY:
ADDRESS:
CITY/STATE/ZIP:
PHONE:
FAX:
EMAIL:
Von R. Pope
Chelan County Public Utility District
231 N. Wenatchee Ave
Wenatchee, WA, 98801
509-661-4625
509-661-8108
von.pope@chelalpud.org
ABSTRACT
TITLE: “Chelan PUD’s Integrated Weed Management Program”
SESSION: Aquatics Session, Thursday, November 6th, 2:20-2:45 p. m.
Since the late 1990’s Chelan County PUD has managed an integrated approach to control a
variety of weed species on public land in both Chelan and Douglas Counties for both upland and
riparian habitats. Chelan PUD owns a large number of parcels that include riparian habitats
associated with Rocky Reach and Rock Island Reservoirs. Riparian areas are particularly
challenging along the reservoirs due to access issues, tighter regulations, and, in some areas, the
occurrence of a federally listed plant. Chelan PUD and its contractors have used biological,
chemical, and physical controls to address a variety of weed issues including purple loosestrife
and Japanese knotweed on a large scale. In addition to spraying purple loosestrife, we have
released over 10,000 insects to control purple loosestrife over the last decade. However, purple
loosestrife still persists. We have controlled several patches of Japanese knotweed along Rock
Island Reservoir over a 5 –year period with routine spraying and physical controls. On a much
finer scale, we targeted individual plants of Himalayan blackberry and yellow flag iris for the
benefit of a federally listed plant. Initial treatments at these sites appear to be working and
similar work is begin planned for the future.