While progress has reportedly been made over the past decade to significantly reduce these plants from KZN’s freshwater resources, there is a still a long way to go get them wholly under control. Some of the biggest threats from alien invader plants to KZN’s freshwater supplies were water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) that was also the world’s worst water weed, water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes), waterweed (Egeria densa) and hydrilla (Hydrilla verticillata).
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Umgeni river near Nagle dam. Photo courtesy of Working for Water’s Manager for Aquatic Invasive Alien Species, Debbie Sharp.
