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[Music] Sherri: Invasive mussels are very harmful
to the environment the also pose a very significant economic and logistical issues to water managers,
recreationist and local communities.
Alan: Invasive quagga and zebra mussels clog our hydroelectric facilities, irrigation systems
and create other aquatic problems in our ecosystems.
This reduces efficiency and increases our maintenance costs.
Denise: They are very prolific, each female has the ability to lay 30,000 eggs per breeding
cycle, and in an environment where they do not have any natural enemies or any natural
diseases their numbers exponentially grow.
David: Quagga and Zebra mussels were introduced into the Great Lakes in the 1980’s, they
infested that area and have spread from there since then throughout the United States.
Reclamation’s first experience with mussels began in 2007 when they were detected in Lake
Mead and we’ve been dealing with the issue ever since.
Namely we believe that there are quagga and zebra mussels in just about every watershed
in the United States outside of the Columbia River Basin.
Alan: On the Columbia River System, which is one of the last quagga or zebra mussel-free
areas in the country, we estimate that those costs could reach 500 million dollars a year.
Sherri: Mussels can also dramatically impact recreation.
Their shells can degrade swimming beaches.
Boaters face increased requirements and costs to have their watercraft inspected and decontaminated,
and they also face limited access to water bodies which can end up impacting the local
economy.
David: Currently, no known broadscale application for open water exists to eradicate mussels.
We attempt to control them in terms of their impacts on infrastructure through new, novel
coatings to limit what they can establish upon, as well as cleaning of pipes regularly
to limit their impact.
Denise: The problems that we have with these organisms is that they are filter feeders
and they sense when a toxin comes into their environment.
So, they will shut down and stop filtering.
So, if you’re going to use something like chlorine, you have to put large volumes of
chlorine into the water over a long duration.
Um, it’s extremely expensive and it isn’t one hundred percent.
It’s very hard to eliminate them with the high fecundity that they’re reproducing
and it isn’t very long before they overwhelm the system again.
Sherri: So, Reclamation is seeking innovative solutions for the complete eradication of
quagga and zebra mussels from lakes and reservoirs.
The ideal solution for this prize challenge would be a treatment that is very specific
to invasive mussels; that doesn’t harm other native or endangered species.
It’s really important that treatments are environmentally responsible, they’re able
to be scaled to large water bodies, and they’re cost effective.
Denise: I’m excited about this prize competition because I think it actually gives us more
possibilities for future control.
Reclamation has spent quite a bit of money trying to research control methods and we’ve
had some success, but again, nothing has been one hundred percent.
Alan: Well, I am excited about it because I am from the Columbia River Basin, and we
are extremely interested there, in prevention and trying to keep the aquatic invasive species
out of our system.
And so, to the extent that we can do anything to promote that...
I’m all for that.
Sherri: For this prize challenge, we’re partnering with experts from the U.S.G.S.,
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Molloy and Associates.
So, these partners have valuable expertise in the field of invasive species, and they’re
very interested in finding a solution that will benefit a variety of agencies.
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