The Utah Department of Agriculture has started a major protect in the state's war on invasive weeds.
The weed is called phragmites and it is an invasive, fast growing weed that has taken over the shoreline of Utah Lake, compromising use of the lake.
On Thursday morning, the Department of Agriculture sprayed more than 1,200 acres north of Utah Lake to try to stop the infestation of phragmites.
The Department says these weeds are a danger to wildlife, water quality, and farmland in the area.
"This is something that is non-native and that has come into the area and actually takes over the lake away from people as it grows so thick that people can't access the lake from the shoreline," said Larry Ellertson, Utah County Commission. "The fish can't even get in to hide in it because it's so thick."
The state gave Utah County a grant of $119,000, which is part of the statewide weed control budget, to begin the spraying and hopeful elimination of phragmites.
The process will be longer however, it will take several years to get the weeds under control and then a maintenance program will need to be established so phragmites
do not return.
