The fight to keep invasive mussels from damaging B.C. lakes and waterways got some financial support this week, but it falls short of what’s needed, officials say.
On Tuesday it was announced that BC Hydro is supporting the province’s Invasive Mussel Defence Program with a new five-year commitment of annual funding of $900,000 beginning in 2024.
The BC Wildlife Federation, Pacific Salmon Foundation and Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation are also providing a collective contribution of $150,000.
These investments join the province’s core funding and the ongoing contributions provided by the program’s founding partners, which include the Columbia Basin Trust, Columbia Power and FortisBC.
Blair Ireland, the mayor of Lake Country and chair of the Okanagan Water Basin Board, said Thursday that he’s made some rudimentary calculations since the funding announcement and it looks like there’s still going to be a shortfall in the number of inspection stations needed.
“We’re looking at similar numbers to last year and that’s with (the mussel) being much closer,” Ireland said.
“We were looking to get back to 2019 funding.”
When funding was at its highest and the federal government was still contributing, Ireland said that B.C. had 12 inspection stations and 64 inspectors.
Last year, with federal resources drying up, the entire province had six inspection stations and 43 inspectors, according to the conservation officer service.
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Considering travel had started to pick up significantly following pandemic lockdowns, the disparity became apparent.
“We’re a little bit disappointed about that,” Ireland said.
Just last year it became clear that the mussel was moving closer to B.C. waterways. Routine water sampling in Idaho’s Snake River captured the larval form of the quagga mussel — only visible under a microscope — threatening all lifeforms dependent on the waterway and beyond.
The Snake River flows into the Columbia River system, which is shared by Washington and Oregon, and comes too close to comfort for Okanagan Lake.
“It would destroy the way of life … What would happen immediately is that the water would turn crystal clear and we would think it was beautiful because they filter feed everything. Anything in the water would be gone,” Ireland said.
“After two years of that, they start to decay. The mussels die because they have a very short life cycle, so the water becomes algae-ridden and disgusting. On the beaches, you have to wear shoes because they’re razor-sharp. But it’s more than that.”
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The mussels’ presence destroys the systems that carry water to homes.
Adult female quagga mussels can produce more than one million eggs in a year. Within a month of hatching, they latch onto surfaces, quickly coating and clogging irrigation pipes, drinking water intakes and hydropower equipment.
Knowing that, the Idaho government dumped a copper-based pesticide product known as Natrix into the water, which kills all fish, plankton, shellfish and vegetation in the six-mile treatment area.
It’s an extreme reaction that Ireland said B.C. should try to avoid by simply making sure the mussel doesn’t enter local waterways.
One way to do that would be blocking U.S. boats from entering B.C., he said.
The other way is having B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan work together to increase inspections so boats from parts of Canada, where the infestation is already underway, don’t muddy other waters.
“If we can close the U.S. border, and the federal government could convene us with the other provinces, we could combine our resources we could create one border out there, on the edge of everything and work together and pool our money to protect our three provinces,” he said.
“That would seem to be the logical thing to do. It always seems to be if you collaborate and work together, you’ll get solutions.”
Nathan Cullen, minister of water, land and resource stewardship, said there’s not a lot of appetite on the part of the province to do that just yet, but they do want to see greater provincial involvement.
“This is very much a federal issue. These are boats often crossing over into Canada from the States, and we need those inspectors.”
He said he spoke with the federal fisheries minister just a few weeks ago about the matter, but, with no action in sight, the province couldn’t wait for them to come to the table.
“In the meantime, I’m so grateful to the partners … that were able to raise some money and put it all in a pot collectively because again, we all see the importance of it.
“Everybody in the region who’s paid any attention to this issue knows that we have to do everything we can to keep the waters in the waterways safe here in B.C. and we’ll do everything we can to do that. ”
Inspection stations are open from April until October to prevent zebra and quagga mussels from hitching a ride on boats or other watercraft and entering B.C. waterways.
Inspectors promote B.C.’s directive for everyone to follow the “Clean, Drain, Dry” guidance, preventive steps every boater is expected to practise when moving between lakes, rivers and other water bodies.
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