Shutting down Lake Powell would be a worthwhile investment
By Caleb Wood
Shutting down Lake Powell would be a worthwhile investment. I spent my whole summer working with the Utah Department of Natural Resources fighting the invasive zebra and quagga mussels in Flaming Gorge. These invasive mussels latch onto anything and everything, including recreational boats. For example, a boat that has been in Lake Powell for one day will come out with visible mussels latched onto anchor lines and an unknown number of premature-microscopic mussels literally everywhere.
These mussels are not native to Lake Powell or any body of water even on this continent. After the mussels were brought over from the Caspian Sea via cargo ships, recreational boating began its reign over the United States. Today, virtually every body of water east of Wyoming is infested with these mussels, all at the hand of recreational boats being transported to and from various waters.
Once the mussels infest a body of water, there is no way to get them out. They damage infrastructure and throw ecosystems out of balance. Zebra and quagga mussels create a monoculture of themselves, increase the frequency of algal blooms, and are bivalves that filter feed nutrients and phytoplankton out of the water. One mussel the size of a quarter can filter 1 liter of water every 24 hours, and considering that one female can produce 1 million offspring per year, they can be extremely damaging.
The first state that was blessed with the mussel infestation, Michigan, spends millions annually on invasive species management, according to msutoday.msu.edu. Keeping the mussels out of lakes will prevent them from clogging up pipelines and hydroelectric dams. Special dive teams have to be deployed to take care of the damage the mussels have caused. Fishing is also greatly impacted by a mussel introduction, and a collapse in the fish population will eventually spill over and take its toll on the wildlife.
During my 600 hours at a boat ramp in Flaming Gorge, the majority of boats that had come from a mussel-infested water were from Lake Powell. So if I have added this all up correctly, I have a plan to 100 percent cut out the risk of boats from Lake Powell infesting any other Utah waters and saving taxpayers potentially millions: Once a boat has been in Lake Powell or any mussel infested water, it can’t go anywhere else. Take your boat to Lake Powell for spring break? No need to worry about towing that biological bomb back to your house, just leave it in dry storage near the lake! The local businesses will thank you, and with prices starting at only $2.50 per foot of boat each month, it is well worth not destroying another lake in the second driest state in the country.
Caleb Wood is a Biology student at the University of Utah.
The viewpoints expressed above are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The Independent.
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Quagga mussels in Lake Powell pose threat to our water supply
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Isn’t it possible to introduce a species of fish for any aquatic species that feeds on muscles these type of muscles
Yes the Quagga have made it to lake Powell but does it make sense to shut the lake down ?. It still grows 60 % of the Nations produce, makes clean electricity, produces hundreds of millions of revenue to both states in recreational tax dollars and some species of fish grow on Quaggas and some will suffer plus it’s produced some new industry in repairing the damages.And it’s obvious the governments both Federal & States where helpless in stopping it to getting it’s growing footholds Nationwide. And if you can’t control something in this type of situation you regulate it and tax the masses for managing what couldn’t be managed at it’s onset. For the time being enjoy it and learn and maybe a remedy will be discovered.
I agree with your points on governments not being able to control the spread. It’s been quite the disaster and it seems like there’s no good way out of this. It’s definitely introduced some new industry which is helpful for the economy and since Lake Powell is a man made structure, it almost seems like it for us to do whatever we want. The lake does also bring in revenue for the surrounding towns and undoubtedly there’s good parts to it.
To an extent I think the governments have done exactly what you have proposed, manage and tax. It may be the only good way! I appreciate your thoughtful comment.
How will you control birds or natural water flow from the transfer of the Quagga?
As far as where the mussels are currently, there’s not much we can do to cut out further spread downstream. The biggest thing we can do is to stop the boats from bringing Quaggas further up the waterways. The mussels would never make a trek on the wing of a duck or swim north to Flaming Gorge or Deer Creek without a boat carrying them.
Ducks spread muscles too. Maybe the boat inspections is just a way to give people a job just a step above welfare. Look who they hire kids and people that can’t handle a real job.
The theory that waterfowl can spread mussels just as effectively as a fishing boat has been proven false by the Minnesota DNR. And waterfowl have only proven to spread mussels at a local scale.