Don't Move a Mussel_Background
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[Background Music]
- Clearly the West can’t wait
in terms of educating the public
to prevent the widespread
of things like Zebra mussels
and Quagga mussels
and aquatic invasive species.
Everything that you can do now
will save you money
and very significant staff time
down the road.
This is not an issue that is high
on the radar screen
of your average senator, or
member of the house of representatives.
But the fact is
if you’re a fisherman or a boater
it needs to be high
on your personal radar.
Aquatic invasive species
such as Zebra mussels and Quagga mussels
threatening the very existence of salmon.
Just in the last five months
since I’ve been at this location.
We gone to finding
one or two mussels
in those filters defining thousands.
[Don't Move a Mussel]
Zebra and Quagga mussels
are hardly the thing
that people think about
when they think about
fishing or recreational boating.
Unfortunately, these invasive species
have infested the great lakes
and much of the Eastern seaboard
and they’re rapidly spreading West.
Once they are infesting a river
or water or lake system,
we can’t do anything really subsidence
to get them out of there permanently.
That’s why it's so important
to do everything we can
before they arrive to prevent them
from coming to begin with.
Throughout the West,
we have an opportunity now
if we take action to prevent spread
of these creatures.
That’s why I’m sure
when you see this video
you wanna do everything you can
like so many others.
And like I want to do
to keep these invasive species
from destroying things
that we care so much about.
If you’re a fisherman,
if you enjoy recreational boating
in fact even if you just drink water
or irrigate your farm
you have to know
how dangerous these creatures are
and like I said
I’m sure you’ll want to know
and do everything you can
to keep them from spreading.
- You see there’s a large one
right there.
- And do everything you can
to keep them from spreading.
- You see there’s a large one
right there.
That’s kind of be probably
a year and a half
or 2-year old mussel right there.
- Zebra and Quagga mussels
are two closely related fresh water species
in the genus Dreissena.
Both are native to the region
of Western Europe and Eastern Asia
commonly known as Eurasia.
Specifically, the Black Caspian
and Aral Seas.
In their native range
these species
have evolved in an ecosystem
that included a complete set
of biological controls.
Among them predators,
disease and other ecological factors
that kept them in balance
with their environment.
In the late 1700s,
Dreissenid mussels
became established in Western Europe.
When an elaborates system
of interlink canals where constructed
to improve fresh water transport
of goods throughout Europe.
Because this introduction occurred
before the peak of industrialization
and included controls species
as well.
The problems caused by these mussels
in Europe
where problematic but manageable.
Sometime in the mid 1980s
Zebra and probably Quagga mussels
were transported
to the North American great lakes,
most likely in the ballast water
of a cargo ship
loading an European fresh water port.
The first reported finding
of Zebra and Quagga mussels
in North America
occurred in Lake Sinclair in 1988.
During the next decade
they dispersed rapidly
with downstream currents
to infect nearly every connected water way.
But the late 1990s
they were found in 23 states
and two Canadian provinces
all these of the 100th meridian.
Since then they have continued to expand
primarily by over land transport
on trailered watercraft and equipment.
But it was in until January of 2007
that they were found West
of the 100th Meridian.
When Quagga Mussels were discovered
in Lake Mead
and several other
lower Colorado river impoundments.
Following the pattern
we observed in the East,
mussels have been widely dispersed
downstream to connected waterways.
How far, and where they are allowed
to move
beyond the Colorado basin
will be determined
by what we do
to stop their over land movement
on trailer watercraft.
In January of 2008,
Zebra Mussels were found
in Pueblo reservoir in Colorado
and in San Justo reservoir
in Central California.
The first population of Zebra mussels
recorded in the Western U.S.
Over all Zebra and Quagga mussels
are relatively small,
shells range from a couple of millimeters
to a maximum of about 5 cm
in over all length.
They can reach sexual maturity
at about 2 cm.
While they get their common name
from alternating dark and light stripes
in the outside of mo shells,
the pattern and coloration varies widely
and the stripes are not always present.
Both Quagga and Zebra mussels
are similar in appearance
and shared the most important
distinguishing characteristic,
the presence of byssal threads
that they used to attached
to any object to their liking.
No other fresh water mussel
in North America has byssal threads.
The difference in the appearance
between the two mussels
has mostly to do
with their shape and orientation
of the two-halves of the shell.
The Zebra mussel
has a pronounced D-shape,
while the Quagga mussel
has a more rounded
and overlapping shell edge.
The differences are not important.
If you find any small attached mussels
in fresh water
it’s spell trouble
and needs to be reported right away.
Both of these species
reached sexual maturity
at about one year of age.
Sooner in warmer climates
a single female mussel
is capable of producing
up to one million eggs in a year
with multiple spawnings.
Fertilization is external
and usually starts
when water temperature’s reached
52 degrees Fahrenheit.
Fertilized eggs
become free floating planktonic veligers
and remain in that state
being carried by water and wind currents
for 2 to 5 weeks before settling.
The mortality rate at this stage
can be very high
often approaching 98 to 100%.
Once settled on suitable substrate
juvenile mussels can often do move
until they find better conditions
before settling in semi-permanently.
The average life-span
of these mussels species
is about 4 to 5 years.
But it's highly variable
depending on a wide variety
of environmental factors.
Including high water temperatures,
low calcium levels
and available food supply to name a few.
These mussels sustain themselves
by filtering food from the water column.
An adult mussel
is capable of filtering
up to a liter of water a day,
removing nutrients that were otherwise
be used by native species.
Since established populations
have Dreissenid mussels
can occur densities up to 100,000
or more individual per square meter,
feeding and waste can
and usually does have
life altering effects on the ecosystem.
Coming up,
we will tell you about the devastating impacts
these mussels' species could have
on the economy,
culture and environment.
- There is a fight going on
to combat
an invasion in bay area waters.
The culprit is threatening
to cause real problems
from bay area cities and wildlife.
- It would be difficult
to overstate the impact
that Zebra and Quagga mussels
can have on the ecology,
economy and culturable region
when they become established.
Those impacts have already been felt
in the Eastern US and Canada.
Were more than $7 billion has been spent
just managing the effects
on water delivery systems
in 23 States and two Canadian provinces
over the past 23 years.
Whether you’re a boater,
fisherman, farmer, home maker,
factory worker or retiree
you will feel the effects of these mussels
in the form of higher food,
power and utility costs.
Lost recreational opportunities
or higher taxes and fees,
if they become established
in your water ways
because managing the impact
of these species is expensive.
Maintaining a safe reliable
and economical supply of water
to meet the needs
of the individuals and businesses,
often relies on water being transported
and delivered great distances.
To maintain water delivery
when mussels are present
will require a near constant
monitoring treatment and maintenance.
And may require a very expensive
new capital investment
in the form of chlorination systems
and or additional expanded
delivery systems.
All of those activities
will come at a cost
which is already being passed on to consumers
in the form of higher water
on utility bills.
- Directly after our ozone process
we add chlorine to the water
and then that chlorine
goes through out the entire plant
goes through our flocculation,
it goes through filtration
and it goes all the way out
into the distribution systems.
So if we were to not have that oxidant present
during those steps,
then this flocculation base
which you can see right here
would be susceptible to settlement
and Quagga mussel growth.
With the potential of clogging lines
and causing us all different --
all kinds of different problems.
I would estimate
that it would be
somewhere around a million dollars
in capital cost
to put the infrastructure
and the systems
in placed for a long term solution.
And then there will be a daily operation cost
we’re looking at to approximately
a thousand dollars a day
just in chlorine purchase
and to use for villager control.
- We serve San Diego, Los Angeles,
Orange County,
Ventura and San Bernardino.
A total of 80 million people
have received water from us.
For us the impacts are primarily
in proactive measures is
spending resources now
to avoid longer term cost.
We are basically,
this first year
is gonna be close to $10 million
that we're spending in resources,
chemicals
and additional construction
of facilities for support of chlorination facilities.
We probably will be spending
that same amount
for the next several years
just to be able to essentially defer
having to do even greater expenditures
down the road.
- Large water storage
and power-generating dams
abound in the Western US.
Not only do they supply the majority
of the electrical power produced
in the West,
but playing important role in flood control,
water storage and recreation.
Dams and their working parts
provide nearly ideal habitat conditions
for Dreissenid mussels.
Hard surfaces, flowing water,
shade and the constant supply of food.
While dams are very good for mussels,
the reverse is surely not true.
- We are aware
and we're already making plans
for how to address the problem
if that should occur.
This is in contrast to a couple
of our facilities downstream.
And one in particular that is already
experiencing these two factors
in combination.
It's Parker Dam.
It's the dam about a 150 miles
downstream from Hoover Dam.
That dam creates Lake Havasu
between California, Arizona
on the Colorado River.
The types of equipment
were these Quagga mussels
can be a problem
would be the smaller diameter
cooling water pipes.
Both facilities are very similar.
It's very typical for all powerplants
where we draw a certain amount of water
from either the lake or the river
through fairly small diameter pipes.
For six-eight-inch pipes
that cool the various mechanical parts
of these turbine generator systems.
And it's in those kinds of pipes
were either the temperature
or the flow rate
seems to be just the right combination
for the Quagga mussels.
That water from the lake and the river
where we saw that piping down
to the building below us
is actually forced up
through these radiators
to keep this generator cool.
And this side glass tells us
how the water's doing.
So, if we had a real
sever Quagga mussel problem,
we might even see them right here
in this little side glass.
- Agriculture in the west
relies heavily on water
stored in reservoirs
to irrigate crops during the dry,
summer months.
That water is transported
in canal and pipe systems
to supply irrigation to farm operations
of all types and sizes.
In many cases,
water must be transported
hundreds of miles
to the point at which it is used
to irrigate crops.
At every point along the way,
irrigation water is being diverted, pumped,
lifted and carried
through a series of structures
that provide the ideal habitat
for Zebra and Quagga mussels.
Because of their ability
to clog water conveyances
of all types, Zebra and Quagga mussels
threaten irrigated agriculture
from the point of diversion
to the sprinkler head,
affecting producers
and consumers alike.
- One of the things
that this primary concern to me
is about 50% of our water
is relifted.
We use about a million-acre feet
of water a year.
So we're relifting about
500,000 acre feet
in delivering that out
to our, our water users.
Each one of those pumping plants
is a, a site that's very susceptible
to the Zebra, and Quagga mussel problem.
Any reduction in flow
at any one of those pumping plants
can have a critical impact
on the district and the landowners.
Our pumping plants are not overdesigned.
They're designed primarily
to meet peak demands
in the peak of the season.
And so, if we have a mussel problem
in the peak of the season,
we're not going to be able
to make our full deliveries.
- By doing some public education
and some early detection
and rapid response work in Idaho,
we're hoping to prevent
larger economic impacts
to Idaho's farmers.
- One of the most troubling
ecological impacts of Zebra
and Quagga mussels
in the Eastern US
has been their effect
on native mussel populations.
The smaller and more abundant
Dreissenid mussels
kill native mussels
by attaching to their shell
in large enough numbers
to prevent them
from being able to open
for feeding and respiration.
Zebra and Quagga mussels
have caused dramatic declines
in the numbers and diversity
of many native mussel populations
in the East.
Some now considered threatened
or endangered.
- And this is what
we don't want to see.
This is a three-ridge mussel.
It's a, what's it, a shell
when we found it.
It already died.
But the Zebra mussels
will encrust the native mussel
quite readily and prevent it
from being able to respire and eat
and reproduce and open and close
its shell naturally.
So, they really can cause
a great deal of impacts
to our native mussels.
On this Akora river
we have 40 native species of mussels
and we think we've had 40 species
for 300 years.
And Zebra mussels
are certainly the first big threat
to that population
on the same [inaudible 15:08].
- The impact that Zebra
and Quagga mussels
have on the nutrient distribution
and balance
in a large, water body
is incredibly complex
and frightening.
When Dreissenid mussels
become firmly infringed in a system,
they strip the plankton from the water,
convert it to body in shell mass
and excrete what they don't use
to the lake bottom.
While this action does have
the effect of increasing water clarity,
the removal of nutrients available
for bait fish and juvenile game fish
completely changes the ecosystem.
This action is resulted
in an 80% decrease
in [inevitable 15:46] plankton
in Lake Michigan
in the last decade,
resulting in a near collapse
of the Whitefish fishery
and a large decline
in chinook salmon numbers,
growth rate and size,
as well as toxic algae blooms
that have been responsible
for killing tens of thousands of diving ducks.
- What we're seeing then
is the Zebra mussel
population comes in,
it eats the good algae
which would be food
for a lot of other organisms.
It releases the nutrients
which the blue-green algae
can then pick up and grow.
And because nobody's eating
the blue-green algae,
their numbers can increase dramatically.
And, as the Zebra mussels
are filtering up algae out of the water,
it becomes much clearer.
The light will penetrate
further down to the bottom.
So now, we can get the growth of algae
that can attach
to the rocks on the bottom.
And what we are starting to see
in some of the great lakes right now
is a change in the cover
of the algae community
in the nearer shore areas.
People on Lake Heron
have been complaining
for the last few years
about this blown, slimy material
that is coating the rocks
along their beaches.
And then when it dies,
it washes in shore, decomposes
and smells horrendously.
So our poor, little zooplankton now
are losing the good algae
that would be floating
on the water column
and they're left with smiley stuff
on the bottom
that no one wants to utilize.
Over the years,
we learned it wasn't just calcium
that restricts the mussels.
They are able to live
with lower calcium levels.
If they have enough warm temperatures,
it won't stress them out.
And if they have
an adequate food supply.
- As noted earlier,
when Zebra or Quagga mussels
become established in a water body,
it results in dramatic changes
to the ecology
by reducing the availability of nutrients
that are the building blocks
necessary to support recreationally
and commercially important fish spieces.
The bottomline,
reduce numbers, growth rates and survival
equals poor fishing.
- We have filtration systems
on our recirculation systems
for razorback suckers
and bonytail chubs.
And those filters that we use
are increasingly getting clogged
with Quagga mussels.
So that, that's causing
more maintenance work.
Just in the last five months
since I've been at this location.
We've gone to finding --
one or two mussels in those filters
defining thousands.
So, it's exponentially increasing.
- We know that
we have good years and bad years
for our salmon stocks
based on ocean conditions,
based on amount of rainfall.
And if we happen to have
a time when we already had a stock
that was being weakened
for certain reasons.
And our populations were lower
than normal.
And on top of that then,
we layer on these effects
of Zebra or Quagga mussels.
It could be particulary devastating.
- The orifice
is the most fish pass through here.
Most fish don't go over
the werse.
They go through
an underwater orifice.
Which some of them are 18 inches,
some are 24.
But these are large fish.
Small orifices.
As soon as you start taking space
at an orifice in either direction,
especially some that's going to be sharp.
These fish are going to come through
most likely injured.
With Zebra mussels
or Quagga mussels
would be tough for us to deal with
in that regard.
- What we're expecting to see of
if these invasive mussels
got into our state in large amounts
is that you would see
a sort of bottom up effect.
So there's less food available
for the juvenile fish, the forage fish.
- Recreational and commercial boat
and marina operators
will also feel the effects
from a Zebra
or Quagga mussel infestation.
Mussel veligers are pulled
into the cooling systems
of marine engines,
where they attach and grow,
clogging the system, overheating
and ruining the engines.
Large die-offs of mussels
frequently occur,
creating windrows of sharp-edged shells
that can cover the beach
and lake bottoms
and close areas to recreation.
- They would get all into holes.
This creates drag on the hole.
It's going to increase fuel costs
because of that drag.
They're going to get on the outdrives,
plug cooling intakes,
which will overheat engines.
There's one that came out
the other day.
A 44 [inaudible 19:53]
came out.
He came out [inaudible 19:56]
loaded on the trailer.
If he decided he like to take him to tour
around the lake
before loading on the trailer.
He remembers [inaudible 20:03]
overheated engines.
His intakes would go
over 95% plug.
- Earlier in the year,
we moved the Marina down here
and the up lake end hadn't been,
they hadn't really noticed Quagga
and Zebra mussel
in the upper in the Overton Arm.
So the boats that we took up there
all had to be pulled out
decontaminated up in the parking lots
before we move them up the late.
On a constant basis,
we're shuffling boats around
and every time we pull one,
we decontaminate it,
spray it down for mussels.
- They're going to present a problem
to our visitors
when they start showing up
on the beaches.
And they actually have started
showing up on the beaches
but they're in low numbers.
But as the water level drops
and we get into those areas
where there's higher concentrations of them,
then they're going to start showing up
on the beaches.
And that's going to be a problem.
- In the great lakes,
Dreissenid mussels cover almost
all underwater surfaces
at loading docks and piling,
increasing erosion
and threatening the structural integrity
of many facilities.
Locks, docks, boat lifts
and navigation buoys
are also favorite hangouts
for Zebra and Quagga mussels,
resulting in increased maintenance
and replacement costs.
-Mussels are usually start about five feet
below the surface of the water.
You start getting the mussel growth.
And the reason why they start there
is because we get heavy ice here
in the harbor.
So they tend not to survive
in that upper five feet.
Below five feet to the mudline
which is usually about 30 feet
below the surface of the water.
So we add about a twenty-five-foot zone,
usually get a hundred percent coverage
of Zebra mussels over every surface.
They will grow on wood,
and they will grow on steel,
rubber, glass.
Pretty much anything
that's in the harbor
at the bottom, they'll grow.
- It may cause degradation of the facilities
at a greater rate.
So there would be a greater capital input
that would be required.
We would have to completely
redo facilities.
Port facilities are already
expensive enough
and so, we don't want to have to
expend any more money
than we already have to.
- The culture of the West
is rich and diverse.
It values and celebrates
natural resources.
Ingenuity, hard work and the great outdoors.
It is closely tied the land and water resources
and their sustainable use.
Zebra and Quagga mussels are a threat
to those resources and values.
And for the Native American tribes
of the West,
water, wildlife and fishing
are synonymous with life itself.
- The tribes fish both commercially
and for subsistence and ceremonial use.
The salmon are a sense to the keystone
of their being.
Without the salmon,
they would cease
to exist as in people.
With Quagga mussels or Zebra mussels
invading and colonizing the system,
both mainstream and nursery habitat
could be affected.
Passage for adults could be affected.
By adhering to the physical structures
of the fisher
required to pass through at the dams,
the dams could essentially
become killing machines
for these fish.
Because of the sharp-edged shells
lining the fishways
where the adults would pass.
And clogging and changing the flows
for the bypass is [inaudible 23:09].
- The consequences of
a Zebra or a Quagga mussel invasion
are devastating and far-reaching,
affecting every citizen in some way.
All water users need to be concerned
and work together with Federal State
and local lawmakers
to find ways to prevent
the further spread of these invaders
to protect the West economy,
ecology and cultural resources.
This is one of those rare cases
where traditional competitors
for limited water supplies in the West
can join forces.
Because there are no winners
where Zebra or Quagga mussels
are concerned.
Only losers.
The time for action is now.
- Through a comprehensive program
that features prevention
through public education,
watercraft inspection, monitoring
and laws and enforcement,
we've been able to prevent the spread
and contain the spread
of aquatic invasive species
in the state of Minnesota.
In 1989, Zebra mussels were found
at our doorstep.
But we only have inland lakes now
with Zebra mussels.
- There are thousands of boaters
on a daily basis
within a day's drive
of all the recreation boaters in the West,
from either Lake Mi,
Lake Mohave, Lake Havasu
are some of the currently infested places
on the lower Colorado River.
And if we're here within a day's drive
at these areas,
you need to be thinking about
your prevention program now.
- My hope is that
sports fishermen, sports anglers,
as a community, embrace this.
And get involved with the legislators
and with State government
and let them know
that they care enough,
that they want them, you know,
that they want something in place
that's going to prevent this
from coming into our region.
- Aquatic invasive species,
Zebra mussels in particular,
can be controlled with the right kind
of program that involves
education, information, access management,
inspections, letting the boating public,
the stakeholders if you will,
know how to prevent the spread
of aquatic invasive species.
Monitor is very critical.
Monitoring is very critical.
And you do these, all these things
in concerts.
And I think it's definitely worth the effort.
- The Quagga mussel issue just doesn't stop
with people that are affected directly
at the lake,
or with boaters,
or with different individuals.
It affects everyone.
As our costs for treatment.
As costs for different prevention methods
come into play,
rates may increase, things could happen
associated with that.
And so everybody needs to do their part
and be understanding
of what the potential impacts are
of this Quagga mussel infestation.
- The crisis is now at our doorstep
and legislators, decision makers,
State and Federal agencies
are hearing from their constituents
that, "Hey, what are we doing
to stop this before it comes in
to our waters?"
They see it's right next door
and we need to move.
- You know, the fact is,
to be perfectly honest,
this is not an issue that is high
on the radar screen
of your average Senator
or a Member of the House
Representatives.
But the fact is,
if you're a fisherman or a boater,
it needs to be high
on your personal radar screen.
And you need, then,
to make this important
to your representative.
The way you do that
is you write letters, make phone calls,
or go to a Town meeting.
Now that may seem most folks
may not ever have done that.
But I guarantee
if you show up at a Town meeting
and you say,
"Congressman or Congresswoman,
this is a real problem.
It could cost our region
hundreds of billions of dollars
over a long period of time.
It could ruin fishing, water supplies,
agriculture.
What are you personally,
and what is the Congress
doing to address this?"
You'll have an impact.
Follow- up that,
because it really makes a difference.
And if you don't raise it,
it's not going to appear on the poll.
There's not going to be a
political action committee
making contributions about it.
And it certainly won't be
in the campaign ad.
But it may have a lot to do
with whether you can fish in the future,
whether your water rates double or triple,
or whether your farms have adequate water
to feed the crops.
- For more information about this issue.
To order a copy of this video,
or to view complete interview footage
of the resource and industry experts
seen on this video,
go to 100thMeridian.org.
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