BATON ROUGE - Heavy machinery will be used next week to remove a plant from LSU Lakes that can cause problems with the water.

Hyacinth plants sprung in some of the lakes, including Crest Lake near Dalrymple Drive, months ago. They are not native to the area.  When the plants die, they take oxygen out of the water.  This would result in the death of fish in the lakes and create an odor.

The mechanical harvester is a pontoon-mounted machine that will be used to removed hyacinth from Crest Lake. LSU is renting the mechanical harvester from the Bayou LaFourche Fresh Water District.

In order to address the hyacinth problem, LSU also built boat ramps to accomodate the machines into the water.

The University Lakes Improvement and Preservation Association and the Lakeshore Civic Association is donating to LSU in order to cover the cost of renting the machinery.