AUBURN – Protecting Lake Auburn from an invasive plant that is more of an environmental threat than milfoil involves boat inspections and education for mariners, officials say.

Since hydrilla was found by a seasonal resident at Pickerel Pond in Limerick last year concern has grown that it could spread to other Maine lakes and ponds.

“We have 11 species of invasive aquatic species and hydrilla is considered by all accounts to be the worst of the worst,” said Roberta Hill, manager of the Maine Center for Invasive Aquatic Plants, a project of the Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program in Turner. That program will be relocating to the Brackett Environmental Center at Lake Auburn later this year.

The smallest fragment of hydrilla can sprout roots. It is difficult to eradicate. Hydrilla is frequently transported from lake to lake and between states on the bottoms of boats and on boat trailers.

Hydrilla, which is native to Africa, Asia and Australia, was first introduced in the United States in Florida as an aquarium plant during the 1950s and has been a problem throughout the United States since 1962. It is prevalent in every region of the nation.

Hydrilla is now considered Florida’s most serious invasive aquatic problem having infested more than 65,000 acres of that state’s lakes, rivers, streams, drainage and irrigation canals.

Dense mats of hydrilla effect water quality and temperature. Stagnant water created by hydrilla mats provides breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Hydrilla may also interfere with recreational activities including swimming, boating, fishing and water skiing.

Hill said most discoveries of invasive aquatic plants have been made by boaters, anglers and waterfront property owners. Again she stressed that education of the public is important to finding and eradicating the invasive plants.

“We are discussing with other agencies what will happen at that particular site,” said John McPhedran, who coordinates the Invasive Aquatic Species Program of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.

He said keeping even the smallest fragments of hydrilla, milfoil and other invasive species from being spread on the bottoms of boats and on boat trailers is imperative. Education of boaters is necessary.

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection has money budgeted to fund inspectors at the public boat ramp off Route 11 in Limerick. They will also help to educate the public about invasive plants.

“At the very least we may have to inspect boats leaving that site so they won’t take hydrilla with them,” McPhedran said.

Legislation passed by the Maine Legislature in 2001 grants authority to the commissioners of the DEP and the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to jointly restrict surface use of a waterway. McPhedran explained that both commissioners must agree. That authority has not been used. It could prohibit recreational use. He added that no measures more restrictive than boat inspections are currently planned.

“We certainly hope hydrilla doesn’t invade any other lakes in Maine. It truly would be devastating if it does. It’s very aggressive and worse than milfoil,” said Mary Jane Dillingham, water quality manager for the Auburn Water District and the Lewiston Water Division.

Dillingham told the Lake Auburn Watershed Protection Commission on Thursday that a grant from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection is likely to be awarded that would provide funding for weekend boat inspectors at Lake Auburn this summer in an attempt to prevent boats from outside the area with parts of invasive plants on them from getting into Lake Auburn.

Maine law prohibits the introduction, transportation, sale and cultivation of 11 invasive aquatic plants including hydrilla and milfoil.