So far, Idaho officials have not discovered more invasive quagga mussels

Clark Corbin, Idaho Capital Sun

TWIN FALLS (Idaho Capital Sun) — State officials person not detected viable quagga mussels since resuming h2o sampling this spring, Idaho State Department of Agriculture Director Chanel Tewalt said.

On Sept. 19, 2023, nan Idaho State Department of Agriculture announced it discovered invasive, nonnative quagga mussel larvae successful h2o samples taken from nan Snake River adjacent Shoshone Falls and Centennial Waterfront Park successful Twin Falls.

State officials administered a copper-based chemic called Natrix to termination nan mussels on a 16-mile agelong of nan Snake River from Oct. 3 to Oct. 13, the Idaho Capital Sun antecedently reported.

But authorities officials had to hold done wintertime and outpouring for h2o temperatures to lukewarm up capable to resume sampling and study if they killed nan mussels and stopped nan outbreak.

“We person not had immoderate detections of viable mussels,” Tewalt said successful a telephone interview. “But we cognize from information successful different states and experiences successful different states that we request to sample during what would beryllium nan highest reproduction play that we are successful now.”

The mussels are tin of reproducing quickly, covering vessel hulls, clogging pipes and airs a threat to drinking water, agriculture, recreational tourism and power generation, authorities officials person said.

Watercraft inspector Fabian Redon inspects kayaks astatine Centennial Waterfront Park successful Twin Falls connected Aug. 8, 2024. | Clark Corbin, Idaho Capital Sun

How is Idaho trying to extremity invasive quagga mussels

As portion of nan effort to conflict nan mussels, nan Department of Agriculture has expanded its h2o sampling programme and accrued nan number of watercraft inspection and decontamination stations utilizing 2 caller positions and $6.6 cardinal successful backing approved by nan Idaho Legislature earlier this year.

As of Monday afternoon, nan authorities has conducted much than 115,000 watercraft inspections, according to nan Idaho State Department of Agriculture.

There are besides caller rules successful spot this twelvemonth for watercraft inspection. First, each out-of-state watercraft must beryllium inspected and decontaminated astatine a watercraft inspection position earlier entering Idaho waters, according to nan Idaho State Department of Agriculture.

Second, for nan Snake River betwixt Broken Bridge and Pillar Falls, each watercraft and conveyance (like waders, wading boots aliases lifejackets) are required to beryllium decontaminated earlier entering nan h2o and aft exiting nan h2o successful that conception of nan river.

To decontaminate watercraft, nan technicians astatine watercraft inspection stations supply basking washes wherever they spray nan boats down, cleanable them and barren them for free, said Nic Zurfluh, invasive type bureau main for nan Idaho Department of Agriculture.

The state’s wide connection is “clean, drain and dry,” and officials are encouraging boaters and recreation users to clasp nan programme arsenic a measurement to protect Idaho waters from nan invasive mussels and widen nan life of their boats.

Zurfluh said nan “clean, drain and dry” strategy is thing each boaters tin do connected their ain to help, moreover if they are not required to sojourn an inspection/decontamination station.

“If a boater is capable to cleanable their instrumentality – removing each aquatic plants, sediment, mud, that benignant of point – get it each cleaned off, drain each their compartments, pulling vessel plugs… making judge to drain immoderate earthy h2o retired and past allowing nan vessel to thoroughly barren betwixt outings, that becomes very important, particularly erstwhile they’re moving betwixt h2o bodies aliases watersheds, different stream systems, (and) moving agelong distances,” Zurfluh said successful an question and reply astatine nan Centennial Waterfront Park inspection/decontamination station. “And it’s not conscionable quagga mussels (we’re trying to stop). There’s different aquatic invasive species, different food pathogens, that we’re concerned with.”

Zurfluh said nan watercraft inspection and decontamination are an important portion of stopping nan dispersed of mussels. So acold this year, he said authorities inspection stations person discovered 17 mussel-fouled boats earlier they sewage connected nan h2o successful Idaho. But Zurfluh said authorities officials now cognize nan consequence to quagga mussels is simply a marathon, not a sprint, erstwhile it comes to monitoring nan wellness of nan Snake River and fighting invasive species.

“We’re getting much businesslike pinch our inspection/decontamination process down present astatine Centennial Park, but it will return respective years of extended monitoring earlier we will cognize pinch assurance … whether nan curen was effective aliases there’s further curen needed,” Zurfluh said.