Current status of the water hyacinth problem in Uganda

Water hyacinth was first reported in Uganda about ten years ago when it was found in Lake Kyoga in 1988 and Lake Victoria the following year. Over the years the water weed developed two patterns of distribution namely the stationary mat formation along the shores and extensive mobile mats resident in sheltered bays. The rate of infestation of the stationary mats peaked between 1993 and 1995 when the water weed covered an estimated 2,200 ha, 570 ha, and 500 ha of the shores of Lake Victoria in Uganda, Lake Kyoga and of River Nile, respectively. The stationary weed formation had covered about 80%,60% and 80% of the length of the respective shorelines