News Release Archive

Bureau of Reclamation allocates more than $4 million to combat quagga and zebra mussels in the West

Media Contact: Peter Soeth, 303-445-3615, psoeth@usbr.gov

For Release: June 28, 2018

A Reclamation biologists collect quagga mussel, water quality samples, for research of quagga mussel habitat suitability.WASHINGTON - The Bureau of Reclamation has allocated more than $4 million for federal, state, and tribal projects to prevent, contain, control, and monitor invasive quagga and zebra mussels in the West. This funding advances actions announced by Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke in June 2017 as part of the initiative called "Safeguarding the West: Actions to Strengthen Federal, State, and Tribal Coordination to Address Invasive Mussels." This funding builds on $1 million in 2017 to support initiatives by the federal government, as well as work by the Western Governors’ Association, western states, and tribes to protect western ecosystems, water infrastructure, and hydroelectric facilities from invasive mussels.

"For more than a century, Reclamation and its partners in the West have invested in water infrastructure that is today at risk from invasive quagga and zebra mussels," Commissioner Brenda Burman said. "The funding we are announcing today will be used on efforts to prevent their spread while improving ways to manage facilities when the first sign of these invasive mussels is detected."

"The fight against invasive mussels in the West requires collaboration and partnership at all levels of government, including, importantly, those between Reclamation and Western states," said the Western Governors’ Association. "With this new funding, western states will be able to enhance invasive mussel management at many levels, including research, monitoring, prevention, and enforcement."

Highlights of the funded projects include these actions:

• Purchasing inspection and decontamination stations to inspect and decontaminate boats leaving the lower Colorado River in California and Nevada, including supporting the National Park Service at Lake Mead National Recreation Area.
• Supporting the Salish Kootenai Tribe at Flathead Lake Aquatic Invasive Species program.
• Developing vulnerability assessments for facilities and infrastructure at risk of mussel infestation in the Columbia River Basin.
• Assisting the State of Arizona in providing law enforcement support at inspection stations.
• Funding research for the State of Montana and Reclamation on viability of veligers in residual water in boats.
• Supporting watercraft inspection stations at Reclamation reservoirs in Nebraska and Kansas.
• Implementing the state Aquatic Invasive Species Management Plan at water bodies owned by Reclamation in Utah.
• Analyzing water quality to determine which water bodies should be prioritized for invasive mussel monitoring and prevention in California.
• Continuing and enhancing water quality and quagga mussel monitoring program at high-priority programs in the Pacific Northwest and various reservoirs in the upper Colorado River Basin.
• Conducting watercraft inspections at Navajo and Elephant Butte reservoirs in New Mexico.

Invasive mussels pose challenges for Reclamation and others who manage water. Invasive mussels are prolific breeders and settle on or within water facility infrastructure such as water intakes, gates, diversion screens, hydropower equipment, pumps, pipelines and boats. Infested water and hydropower infrastructure can fail or choke off water transmissions. The mussels also negatively impact the natural ecology, which can be detrimental to native and endangered species, including native fisheries. To learn more about invasive mussel management and research at Reclamation, please visit https://www.usbr.gov/mussels.

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The Bureau of Reclamation is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior and is the nation's largest wholesale water supplier and second largest producer of hydroelectric power. Our facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation opportunities, and environmental benefits. Visit our website at https://www.usbr.gov and follow us on Twitter @USBR; Facebook @bureau.of.reclamation; LinkedIn @Bureau of Reclamation; Instagram @bureau_of_reclamation; and YouTube @reclamation.