April 04, 2007 -- Invasive mussels that choke water pipes
and spoil aquatic life have so far been limited largely to the
lakes and rivers of the Midwest. But a new discovery alarms
wildlife officials in Oregon and Washington: The mussels have
been seen in the West for the first time.
In January, biologists found that quagga mussels made a
1,000-mile leap from the Midwest to Lake Mead on the
Nevada-Arizona border. Since then, the intruders have been
discovered in other lower Colorado River lakes -- Lake Mohave,
Lake Havasu and Copper Basin Reservoir -- that supply water to
Southern California, Nevada and Arizona.
And there's potential bad news for Northwest salmon watersheds.
The mussels were found in a Lake Mead hatchery that has shipped
fish and water to northeast Nevada's Wild Horse Reservoir in the
Owyhee River system at the edge of the Columbia River drainage.
Read the full story to get the details.
"Prevention is the best hope for protecting Northwest waters."
