‘The problem is only going to get worse': funding cuts threaten Hydrilla research and management

Experts are worried an invasive plant choking sections of the Connecticut River could go unchecked this summer following federal funding cuts to a program researching its growth and mitigation.

Those living in riverside towns will be the first to tell you the health of the Connecticut River is paramount.

“The river is the staple of these communities,” said Becky Esposito, who was out enjoying a day along the river.

She said she wants to keep the river as healthy as possible, like many that call its banks home. But there is a relatively new threat growing in its shallow waters.

“One of the worst aquatic weeds in the country,” said Greg Bugbee, who heads up the aquatic invasive species office at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven.

He took us inside a greenhouse on property where they are in the process of growing species of Hydrilla for testing.

“It will cover the surface basically obliterating everything beneath it, cutting all sunlight to the bottom,” Bugbee said.

A survey done in 2021 indicated that about 1,000 acres of the Connecticut River was covered in the grass during its peak growth period in the summer months. Unfortunately, it also spreads very fast, and through boat transmission, it has also spread to a number of lakes around Connecticut.

But last summer, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, through research testing, found that there are herbicides that effectively destroy the Hydrilla.

“People were amazed the water was clear, you could kayak, things you couldn’t do before,” Bugbee said.

The plan for 2025 was to expand that testing to roughly 16 sites. But permitting kept them from a couple of those sites, and then federal funding cuts in the congressional budget killed expansion.

“What it boils down to, is instead of that expansion, we’re actually going to have a constriction, it will be less than last year,” said Ben Sperry, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

A few areas of the Connecticut River will see testing and remediation again this summer, but fewer than the five sites tested and treated last year.

The concern is lack of testing means lack of treatment, which means unchecked growth.

“Not doing any treatment or any management -- the problem is only going to get worse,” Sperry explained.

The goal, according to the Corps, would be successful testing, and then they could hand over necessary guidelines to municipalities or the state to handle herbicide usage.

Unchecked growth, according to Bugbee, has its consequences.

“There are effects on the ecosystem itself. There are effects on the ability of recreation in the area, there is the effect on real estate prices nearby and marinas, and the economy that relies on the river,” said Bugbee.

Experts say the lack of testing will have a ripple effect.

“I think it’s really important to maintain this to keep these towns going and get our visitors down here,” said Esposito.