Invasive zebra mussels detected in lake in Colorado

By KCNC Staff

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    Colorado (KCNC) — For the first time, Colorado Parks and Wildlife detected adult invasive zebra mussels at Highline Lake.

Last year, 446,663 inspections were conducted and 27,003 boats suspected of carrying mussels were decontaminated.

“The discovery at Highline Lake emphasizes the need for CPW to continue to strive to meet the challenge of protecting the state’s waters and infrastructure from aquatic nuisance species,” said Robert Walters, CPW’s ANS program manager, in a statement. “And as boating season approaches we continue to ask for help from boat owners to combat invasive species in the state.”

CPW said most concerning is the continued increase in the number of boats found with mussels.

Here is a breakdown of the past few years:

In 2019, 86 boats were found to be fouled with invasive mussels. In 2020, that number jumped to 100. In 2021 that skyrocketed to 181. In 2022, CPW found 148 boats entering the state with this highly destructive species in spite of a significant overall drop in boating at Lake Powell due to low water levels and lack of ramp access. Mussels are destructive to aquatic habitat, can seriously damage reservoir infrastructure and cause problems on boats.

Contaminated boats usually come into Colorado from neighboring states, especially Utah and Arizona because of our proximity to Lake Powell which has been mussel-infested for years. Other neighboring states with mussel infestations include Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas and South Dakota. Most Midwestern and East Coast states also have infested waters.

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