Ipswich in Spring - 2025

STRIDES MADE IN INVASIVE WEED MANAGEMENT

The spider excavator machine moving down slope.

The spider’s unique design allows it to traverse steep terrain and enter shallow water bodies, making it ideal for challenging environments like the pond at Viewpoint Drive. Treatment was also carried out at the pond near 31 Vistula Circuit Reserve, where council deployed an aquatic weed harvester to remove a dense mat of salvinia that had formed on the water’s surface.

More than 80 tonnes of the invasive weed salvinia has been removed from two key waterways in Ipswich as part of a coordinated approach by Ipswich City Council and developer Stockland. Salvinia is a highly invasive aquatic weed that is capable of rapid growth in favourable conditions, in some cases, doubling in size overnight. Prolonged wet weather can contribute to the growth of salvinia and reduce the effectiveness of growth management measures. In a council-first trial, specialist equipment known as a ‘spider excavator’ was deployed to remove salvinia from a hard-to-access pond at 9000 Viewpoint Drive in Springfield Lakes.

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