Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment
November 6, 2008
1. Top Items -
Tahoe inspections target invasive mussels
San Francisco Chronicle
Mud snail crops up in four more
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Tahoe inspections target invasive mussels
San Francisco Chronicle – 11/6/08
(11-05) 19:17 PST -- The regionwide effort to stop the spread of invasive foreign quagga mussels has extended to Lake Tahoe, with a new inspection program ordered this week by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.
The agency has also established info centers at (888) 824-6267 and protecttahoe.org for any changes in the program due to storms, said agency spokesman Dennis Oliver.
"These mollusks have the potential to unleash serious environmental and economic harm," Oliver said. "They are carried between water bodies via watercraft that are not adequately cleaned, drained and dried."
Two of Tahoe's public ramps, Cave Rock and
Ramps with no inspectors will be gated and locked, Oliver said. Quagga mussels have the ability to reproduce at high rates, take over the aquatic biology of a lake, and clog water pipes, pumps and anything else they adhere to. Water departments across
Earlier this year, zebra mussels were also found at San Justo Reservoir in
The most common reason that boats fail the inspection is water left in old 2-cycle outboard motors from previous trips, said Shelly Lewis of the East Bay Regional Park District. Most modern 4-cycle outboards drain automatically when removed from a lake.
To stop the spread of invasive mussels, Fish and Game recommends waiting five days and keeping your boat dry between launches into different lakes. Other recommendations are available at dfg.ca.gov; Fish and Game's invasive mussel hot line is (866) 440-9530.#
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/11/05/SP1213U53C.DTL
Mud snail crops up in four more
A prolific invasive snail has now been found in four coastal watersheds, raising the possibility that it will infest a larger part of
The
Other watersheds infested with the invasive snail have been devastated by their presence. It was first found in the Snake River in
While the state is launching an educational campaign to let boaters and fishermen know how to prevent the spread of the tiny snail, it's clear it will not be easy, if even possible. To date, there is no way to eradicate the snail, either.
”There's not a whole lot you can do once they get in there,” said Fish and Game district watershed biologist Michelle Gilroy.
The snails can spread on the feet of wading birds, and can survive in the digestive tracts of fish. To kill them on fishing waders and gear, the California Department of Fish and Game recommends freezing the stuff for eight hours; to scour them from boats, the agency recommends scrubbing them off with hot water.
The hope is to at least slow the spread of the
But even that is hopeful thinking.
”The best strategy is to try to prevent their spread,” McAlexander said, “which may or may not be possible.”
On the
Now, with the presence of mud snails not far from the Mad River Hatchery, McAlexander said it is important to monitor that hatchery, too.
So far, there have been no mud snails discovered there, and the Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District is working to develop ways to prevent the spread of the snails into the upper watershed, in
Pikeminnow scare is quelled
In the effort to keep invasive species in check, there is some good news.
The dreaded pikeminnow -- which has voraciously consumed salmon on the
Biologists found a single pikeminnow in Martin Slough, a tributary to
”The implications for restoration around
But after a number of attempts to find other pikeminnow, the stream turned up clean. No pikeminnow. While the sampling will continue at least until spring of 2009, biologists are reasonably certain that the fish's presence was an isolated case.
The question is how did it get there?
Restorationist Mitch Farro with the Pacific Coast Fish, Wildlife and Wetlands Restoration Association said that when the
”It's a possibility,” Farro said. “It's also fairly likely that someone put them there.”#
http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_10913780
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