On May 30, inspectors at the Alpine Meadows Watercraft Inspection Station found golden mussels on the exterior of a 46-foot boat. It was the first interception of golden mussels in the Lake Tahoe area.
Golden mussels, a tiny shellfish about the size of a quarter, were first detected in North America last fall in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. They’re similar to zebra and quagga mussels, but a newer and bigger threat to the West. That’s because they can survive in waters with wider temperature and salinity ranges, which allows them to reproduce rapidly, said Jeff Cowen, public information officer of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.
“So they could easily outcompete all of our native species and decimate the food web, the bottom of the food chain, the macro-invertebrates, the things that are, really, the source of all of the natural ecosystem in the Tahoe Basin,” Cowen said.
Cowen said golden mussels can also contribute to harmful algae blooms, encrust piers and rocks, and clog pipes for water treatment plants.
He noted the boat carrying golden mussels had previously been in California’s Sacramento River.
“Getting boaters and paddlers, everybody, to clean, drain and dry equipment when they move one body of water to another is incredibly important to not just Lake Tahoe, but really large parts of the American West,” Cowen said.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by CPB.
