shueman
Libra
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Alta Loma CA
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Posted: Jan. 27 2007,8:01 pm |
Post # 15 |
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Mussels found in Central Arizona Project intakes at Lake Havasu
Friday, January 26, 2007 9:53 PM MST
Lake Havasu Herald On-Line
Divers found invasive quagga mussels at the Central Arizona Project intakes at Lake Havasu earlier this week, according to reports from the Arizona Fish and Game Department,.
Officials fear the mussels could spread into central Arizona Lakes.
The CAP canal provides water to the interior of Arizona and major metropolitan areas, including Phoenix and Tucson.
Lake Havasu City gets its drinking water from wells that reach about 100 feet below the bottom of the lake, said Charlie Cassens, spokesman for the city.
“We believe that the fact our water is taken from 100 feet below the ground level of the lake will protect our water supply from an infestation of the mussels,†he said.
He added that city staff is doing additional studies to make sure.
Cassens said recent water quality testing has not revealed any signs that invasive organisms, such as quagga mussels, have gotten into the municipal water system.
The city does have one raw water intake from the lake that is used to supplement irrigation water, mostly in the summer.
“But that's completely separate from our water supply,†Cassens said.
The city is looking into what threat the mussels might pose to that system.
“At this point we don't think we have anything to worry about,†Cassens said.
During the last two weeks since their discovery at Lake Mead on Jan. 6, quagga mussels have been confirmed at lakes Mohave and Havasu, including adjacent to the structure that pumps water from Havasu to parts of southern California.
The invasive mussels also have been found at a fish hatchery in Nevada that provides trout to Lake Mead and Lake Mohave. Fish deliveries from that hatchery have been suspended until new procedures are in place to avoid the spread of these mussels.
The Dreissena species of mussels, which includes two closely related mussels, the zebra and quagga, are less than an inch long, but are extremely prolific. A single one of these mollusks is capable of producing up to a million microscopic larvae in a year.
Quagga mussels can be found at much lower depths than zebra mussels, which is not good news for the deep reservoirs often found in the West. These rapidly-spreading invaders can clog pipelines; damage machinery, such as boat engines; harm fishery resources and befoul bodies of water with waste. In time, they can permanently alter a lake's ecosystem.
The CAP canal is one pathway for these mussels to spread to central Arizona, but these aquatic invaders could also hitchhike on boats coming from the Colorado River lakes that have already been infested.
Game and Fish spokesman Rory Aikens said no one is sure how big of a problem the mussels might turn out to be here. He said such invasions have caused billions of dollars of damage in the Great Lakes, but that the aquatic environment of Arizona's lakes is different.
“We're not exactly sure what could happen (in the Colorado River lakes), but we're absolutely preparing for the worst and hoping for the best,†Aikens said.
He said boat inspections could become necessary, though Arizona currently doesn't have the infrastructure or resources in place to do them.
“The biggest thing we can do is get boaters and anglers to help out. You can't do it with the law,†he said.
Drain That Bilge.... 
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