Lake Conroe is located approximately 93 km north of Houston, Texas, on the west fork of the San Jacinto River in Montgomery and Walker counties. Constructed in 1973 as a joint project of the City of Houston, the Texas Water Development Board, and the San Jacinto River Authority (SJRA) to serve as an alternate water source for the City of Houston, the reservoir covers about 8,498 ha. An expanding problem with the invasive plant hydrilla (Hydrilla verticillata) in 2006 prompted the creation of the Lake Conroe Vegetation Management Plan. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and SJRA developed the plan in cooperation with local homeowners, business owners, anglers, and other recreational users. The plan called for the reduction of hydrilla coverage to 16 ha or less by March 2008 by means of integrated pest management while protecting and enhancing the native aquatic plant community in Lake Conroe. In order to support the plan's overall goal the Seven Coves Bass Club (a B.A.S.S. Federation affiliate) applied for and received a More Fish Partnership Fund Grant sponsored by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and B.A.S.S. Federation Nation to assist with native aquatic vegetation enhancement and exotic vegetation control. This presentation documents the process of the development of a native aquatic vegetation production facility by the Seven Coves Bass Club and the introduction of plants from that facility into Lake Conroe.
