Okanagan Lake free of invasive mussels, says non-profit society

It’s been 11 years since Okanagan Lake started being tested for invasive mussels and it’s the 11th year that it received a clean bill of health.

The Okanagan and Similkameen Invasive Species Society (OASISS) tested 131 samples from five lakes across the valley and found nothing,

The society says invasive mussels are a detriment to North American waterways, and the goal is to keep B.C.’s Southern Interior free of them — unlike many other parts of the continent, like Manitoba’s Lake Winnipeg, which is infested with mussels.

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And in September, the Idaho Dept. of Agriculture announced that quagga mussels had been found in the mid-Snake River.  The location where they were discovered is around 11 hours from the B.C. border.

“This discovery of invasive mussels so close to B.C. reinforces the importance of monitoring and continuing our prevention efforts,” said OASISS director Lisa Scott.

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“The arrival of invasive mussels would have lasting negative impacts on our lakes and rivers, as we have seen in other parts of Canada and the U.S.”

These successes, Scott said, are in large part due to monitoring efforts funded by various bodies of government.

Scott said that the Snake River discovery means that the Pacific Northwest is no longer free of invasive mussels.

It’s not just a minor issue, she explained. The financial and environmental hit is expected to be devastating if they ever make it through to local lakes and waterways.

Throughout the region, it could mean millions of dollars of damage and impacts to freshwater lakes, she said.

“They could change things forever in the Okanagan Valley for those who recreate in our local waters. They could impact fisheries values, tourism and biodiversity,” she said.

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“If you’re a waterfront owner, your property values could decrease because you’re going to have sharp shells and really smelly mussels coming up onto your beach.”

And, of course, drinking water would be threatened.

“It’s important everybody recognizes the impacts and the changes that could happen if mussels arrived and impacted our drinking water,” she said.

“Even our taxes would also likely go up because we’d have to retrofit all our municipal water infrastructure.”

Zebra and quagga mussels are closely related mollusks that originate from freshwater lakes in Russia and Ukraine and are non-native to North America. They live in freshwater and are invasive. They are known to encrust and corrode hard surfaces and cause serious harm to waters where they become established.