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EVAPOTRANSPIRATION FROM WATER HYACINTH (Eichhomia crassipes (Mart.) Solms) IN TEXAS RESERVOIRS 1
Author(s) -
Benton Arthur R.,
James Wesley P.,
Rouse John W.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
jawra journal of the american water resources association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.957
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1752-1688
pISSN - 1093-474X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1752-1688.1978.tb05588.x
Subject(s) - hyacinth , evapotranspiration , environmental science , eichhornia crassipes , hydrology (agriculture) , aquatic plant , acre , water storage , agroforestry , macrophyte , ecology , geology , biology , paleontology , geotechnical engineering , geomorphology , inlet
Water hyacinth, an attractive, floating aquatic plant, poses a substantial threat of unanticipated water loss from Texas reservoirs. A mature plant will lose about three times as much water through evapotranspiration as is lost from evaporation of an equivalent area of open water. The reservoirs of east and southeast Texas, which comprise the bulk of the state's existing and planned water storage capacity, seem likely to suffer a 20 percent average surface infestation of water hyacinth. A coverage that great will result in a yearly net loss of over 2,000,000 acre‐feet of impounded water, based on present water development plans for the state. This would amount to nearly 20 percent of the anticipated yield from the reservoirs affected. An effective aquatic plant control program could head off the threat of this significant water loss.