‘ The species is one of the most invasive in the U.S., and its invasion into the Pacific Northwest has long been dreaded.

By Tuesday, the popular waterfront park in the Snake River Canyon was shut down and nearby lakes and river access points were closed to recreationists with boats, kayaks, paddle boards and canoes. Idaho Gov. Brad Little called two press conferences.

“The what if – what if it's unconstrained – is going to leave a huge mark on this valley and the state of Idaho for a long, long time,” Little said in Twin Falls.

Adult quagga mussels are smaller than a human thumbnail. A single female can produce more than one million eggs in a year. Within a month of hatching, they latch onto surfaces, quickly coating and clogging irrigation pipes, drinking water intakes and hydropower equipment.

Native to Eastern Europe, the quagga and similarly invasive zebra mussels had already impacted all major river basins in the U.S. The Columbia River Basin, spanning the Pacific Northwest, was the last holdout.

“It’s a huge deal,” said Blaine Parker, an invasive species biologist for the Columbia River Inter-tribal Fish Commission. “We are no longer zebra mussel and quagga mussel free.”

The discovery’s implications extend beyond Idaho, as the Snake River flows into the Columbia River system, shared by the region's tribes and the states of Washington and Oregon.

The invasive mussel is particularly feared for the substantial damage it can inflict on infrastructure. Both Idaho and Washington estimate a price tag of hundreds of millions of dollars per year to manage a fully-established infestation, which would include maintenance work to irrigated agriculture and hydropower systems – both critical for the Northwest. However, some of these costs would likely be passed on to ratepayers.

The projected dollar figures are not the only cause for concern; the mussels have demonstrated their ability to fundamentally alter ecosystems. ‘


[www.boisestatepublicradio.org]

And in Tahoe:

Invasive New Zealand mudsnails found in Lake Tahoe

Quote

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE — They’re tiny, they live in fun shells with whorls and grooves, and they don’t need males to reproduce.

They’ve also spread through waterways across North America — far from their native land in the South Pacific — including rivers and lakes up and down California and were finally spotted this month in one of the state’s natural jewels.

"...nearby lakes and river access points were closed to recreationists with boats, kayaks, paddle boards and canoes."

There goes the horse, lets close the door...

Most likely a power boat but there is enough other recreational equipment that they could be the source.

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In tha 360. MRF User Map



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/23/2023 02:56PM by Filliam H. Muffman.

Historians race to find Great Lakes shipwrecks before quagga mussels destroy the sites

Invasion of the Mussels Snatchers?

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Hurts like a bastid...

....what about mussel.....fatigue......??

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I reject your reality and substitute my own!