Cabomba is choking waterways along Australia's east coast.

It grows quickly and produces a large amount of plant material. It can significantly reduce water storage capacity and taint drinking water supplies. Heavy infestations can also raise water levels to a point where overflows and heavy seepage losses occur.

It is extremely persistent and can take over a water body, excluding native plant species. It can also have an impact on native animals in northern Queensland platypus and water rat numbers are lower in infested creeks.

Cabombas dense mass of underwater stems and leaves provide a hazard for recreational water users. When this vegetation dies off, decomposition causes dramatic oxygen reductions and foul-smelling water.

Key points

• Cabomba is an aquatic weed that grows
• quickly and produces vast amounts of submerged plant material.
• It is still sold as an aquarium plant in some states, which makes control even more difficult. Its spread has been assisted by the deliberate seeding of waterways to ensure a wild supply for the aquarium trade.
• Weed control in aquatic environments is difficult and control options are limited by social and environmental pressures.
• Cabomba is sensitive to drying out and requires permanent shallow water. So, where possible, draining a water body can provide temporary control.