Photos: Elodea invades Lake Hood

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Todd Rust, owner of Rust's Flying Service, shows some of the weeds that are clogging the water along his float plane docks on Lake Hood on Friday, July 10, 2015.

A weed infestation so bad it's disturbing navigation for planes on Anchorage's Lake Hood has prompted the state to request an emergency herbicide application before someone gets hurt.

Lake Hood, known as the world's busiest floatplane base, is exploding with greenery fueled by this year's warm summer. But the lush underwater vegetation now includes recently discovered elodea, a leafy green aquarium plant invading Alaska's slow-moving waterways and crowding out native species.

Along with fouling planes, dense mats of elodea also snag boats, reduce property values, and can threaten salmon by sheltering predatory pike. Float planes in summer make hundreds of daily trips on and off Lake Hood, leading to concern elodea will spread to remote water bodies with the planes unless it's stopped.

Weeds like elodea pose a risk to aircraft because plant tendrils snare rudders and make planes hard to steer, especially on blustery days.

READ MORE: Pilots push for weed killer to combat Lake Hood’s plane-fouling plants