Water crassula
Watercress, or water needle, is a bright green succulent plant that originally comes from Australia.
The plant can cause a major problem in shallow waters or nature-friendly banks and can grow very quickly and undesirably displace or overgrow other water plants. This is not good for the quality of the water. It can lead to too little oxygen in the water, especially if the plant covers a large part of the ditch. That is why the water board is taking immediate action to prevent the plant from spreading.
Removing this exotic plant is not easy and must be done carefully. First, the plant must be screened. To do this, oil booms (floating, elongated cushions) are placed in the ditch. Plates are also placed along the edges of the plant and the plant is covered with mesh. After this, a specialized company removes the plants as quickly as possible. The plant remains are removed and destroyed. Combating this exotic plant is difficult because every piece of stem that remains can grow into a plant again.
Who manages the water in your area?
In Zoetermeer we work together with 3 different water boards: HHSK, Rijnland and Delfland. The main waterways are largely managed by 1 of these 3 water boards, all other water is managed by the municipality of Zoetermeer itself. You can see which water board your area falls under via the website www.waterschappen.nl | My water board .
Do you see this plant? Please report it to the Water Board in your area or the municipality of Zoetermeer.
Please note: Do you have this plant in your pond and do you want to get rid of it? Do not put this plant in public areas! But throw it in the residual waste and NOT in the GFT bin.
