New tool helps protect local water from invasive mussels

A new tool is being rolled out to keep waterways free of invasive mussels.

The Okanagan Basin Water Board, with support from several partners, has developed what it calls a “first-of-its-kind” guide to proactively protect in-water infrastructure.

The guide, titled “Preparing for Invasive Mussels: Vulnerability Assessment Guide for Raw Water Infrastructure,” was developed over the past year to help organizations protect infrastructure should an infestation take hold.

The guide includes a new mussel risk analysis table based on the latest water chemistry and habitat requirement research, a “how-to” for determining the risk to each system and component in a facility, and options for how to mitigate the risks and effects invasive mussels.

It also provides operators with a calculation to determine the estimate costs a mussel invasion could incur at a facility.

“The Water Board has been concerned about zebra and quagga mussels since 2012 when a study showed the Okanagan was at risk,” Blair Ireland, OBWB chair and mayor of Lake Country, stated.

“Since then, we have been a vocal advocate for prevention measures with our ‘Don’t Move A Mussel’ campaign, and ongoing support for B.C.’s Invasive Mussel Defence Program. Each year, we hear that mussel-infested watercraft have been intercepted on their way into B.C., so the importance of preparation cannot be clearer.”

The guide was developed in the Okanagan, but includes information that is relevant to utilities across the Pacific Northwest.

Invasive mussels have not yet been detected in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Washington, Oregon or Montana. However, an outbreak discovered in Idaho’s Snake River last fall is ongoing, as is an outbreak in Clear Lake, Manitoba, which the OBWB stated is “providing greater urgency to this project.”