lakeconroefishingguides.com Blog

Lake Conroe Native Plant Restoration Project
Conroe, TX
July 27, 2009

27 volunteers converged on Lake Conroe July 25th, 2009 for a day of transplanting native aquatic plants into the lake. Four different species of the plants were placed along the northern shores of the Sam Houston National Forest. The volunteer group was able to get 120 pots of water willow, soft-stem bulrush, spike rush, and pickerel weed into the water during the workday. The group was both dedicated and experienced, and the work was completed in a very efficient manner. All of the plants were protected with wire mesh cages after being transplanted.

The project is a coordinated effort between the Seven Coves Bass Club (with the B.A.S.S. Federation Nation), the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the San Jacinto River Authority, and the Lewisville Aquatic Ecosystem Research Facility. A major portion of the funding for the project has come via a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. This group has been working to maintain a native plant base in Lake Conroe since the incorporation of white amur (also known as “grass carp”) into the lake’s hydrilla management program in 2006. Although the herbivorous fish have been able to eliminate all of the 2,000 acres of invasive hydrilla, the native base of aquatic plants in the lake has been reduced from over 1,000 acres to a sparse 150 acres to date.

The goals of the Native Plant Restoration Project is to assist in the renewal of habitat for juvenile fish, reduce excessive mineral levels that lead to invasive plant species growth, inhibit algal production, and improve the overall water quality in the lake. Although this program has placed nearly 1,500 native plants into Lake Conroe over the past two years, colonization, and expansion, has been retarded with the current numbers of grass carp that remain in the lake. It is hoped that the restocking efforts will become enhanced, with a future decline in the numbers of the amur.

Several more workdays are being scheduled for the remainder of the 2009 planting season. Anyone with questions, or a desire to assist in the restoration project, is invited to contact the project’s coordinator-Ron Gunter. Ron can be reached at 936-524-4413, or regunter@consolidated.net

A couple of announcements for lake area residents and business owners:
1. Lake level – I’m not sure if the weather patterns could have been any better in terms of Lake Conroe. We went through a moderate dry spell during the winter months which allowed the dam repair to proceed well ahead of schedule, and then since the day the repair was completed, we’ve had just over 12 inches of rain! Our lowest lake level during the dam repair was about 199.6’ MSL, or 1.4 feet below full pool level. With the recent rains we’ve experienced over the last month and a half, the lake rose a full 2 feet to a high of 201.6’ MSL, or about 7 inches over full pool level. We’re currently at 201.21’ MSL and have had only minimal releases. Fortunately we didn’t get the very heavy rains that they received in south Montgomery County.

2. Email alerts and notifications – A few months ago we launched a new website (www.sjra.net), and we also included a new email notification system. I wanted to wait a few months to make sure it was working properly before I officially announced it, but it appears to be working fine. So if you would like to continue receiving updates regarding Lake Conroe or any other SJRA issues, be sure to visit the new site and enter your email address. The site will then ask you to select your areas of interest. Be sure to click Lake Conroe Division. That will allow you to continue receiving lake updates.

3. Current conditions on web site – We are still in the process of upgrading our software for reporting current conditions on the website. You will see this box in the left-hand frame of our home page. For now I have just included links to the gauges maintained by the USGS. But soon we will have the current conditions listed directly on our home page so you don’t have to link to USGS to get the data. I apologize for the delay in getting this back up and running, but we are actually completely replacing the software we use for data collection on rainfall, stream gauges, lake level, weather, etc. The upgrades should be completed in the next few weeks.

Thank you for your continued interest.

Jace A. Houston
Deputy General Manager, Administration
San Jacinto River Authority
PO Box 329, Conroe, TX 77305

(936) 588-1111

(936) 588-3043 fax

Don’t forget to have the kids visit the SJRA site for all sorts of good information and some cool stuff to help you learn about one of Earth’s most precious resources — WATER! Click Here

The Lake continues to rise as a result of our recent rain and run-off. With a few more good Spring rains, the Lake will get back to pool and we should be in good shape for the summer. The San Jacinto River Authority web site is full of good information that all of us interested in the Lake and how and when the water is being used. Vist their site often and book mark it for future reference.

John, I would like to congratulate you on the launch of the new blog. What a great idea that will serve Lake Conroe users well.

I’d like everyone to know just how proud we at the SJRA are of the recent success of the Bass fishery here.

Wow!, four share-lunkers since in the first six months of 2009.

That has got be on the minds of the PAA qualifiers that will be coming here in October to fish the National Championship.

We want to be sure everyone knows about the this nationally televised tournament that will benefit TPWD’s fisheries department and Lake Conroe directly by providing funds for programs like native plant restoration and control of invasive species. Find out more about this fantastic event at www.toyotatexasbassclassic.com

Our hat’s are off to Mark Webb and his team from TPWD inland fisheries for a great job managing our fishery here at Lake Conroe. As I mentioned before a significant part of that management is the mitigation of damage done to our native plant species by the obligatory stocking of Grass Carp due to the invasive Hydrilla infestation we are all so familiar with.

As the SJRA continues its support, both financially and physically, of TPWDs native plant re-establishment program we would like to invite fellow bloggers to join us and the Seven Coves Bass Club (Ron Gunter 936-524-4413) in this effort.

As I write this it has finally started to rain here in our water shed and it couldn’t have come at a better time as the repairs to the Dam are complete to the point of us being able to capture any runoff provided and start to bring the Lake back up. Hopefully within the next month or so we will be back up to full pool level to start off the season.

Best of luck with the new blog site!

Sincerely,

Blake Kellum

W. B. Kellum
Manager
Lake Conroe Division
San Jacinto River Authority