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WATCHING THE
WATERSHED
Selfishshellfish
A TINY AQUATIC ANIMAL POSES A
sizable threat to Alberta’s lakes, rivers,
irrigation infrastructure and municipal
water handling systems.
Quagga and zebra mussels are two
invasive species that attach themselves to
hard objects in the water like irrigation
pipelines. Although individual mussels
are only two to four centimetres long,
they reproduce rapidly and can cut o the
flow of water through a pipeline within a
matter of months, as one layer of mussels
builds on the next.
In November of last year, water in
Montana’s Tiber Reservoir tested positive
for quagga mussel larvae. The presence
of these microscopic larvae (known as
veligers) only 80 kilometres from the
Alberta border put the province on high
alert.
MUSSEL INVASIONPOSES SERIOUS THREAT TO IRRIGATION INSOUTHERNALBERTA
“Previously, the closest [detections]
were in Utah, so now they’re only a couple
of hours away,” said Ron McMullin, ex-
ecutive director of the Alberta Irrigation
Projects Association (AIPA). “We’re not
putting our heads in the sand and saying
we’re never going to get them.”
AIPA represents Alberta’s 13 irrigation
districts, which together have about 4,000
kilometres of pipelines irrigating almost
1.4 million acres of land that contributes
$3.6 billion to Alberta’s gross domestic
product, according to a 2015 study done
for the provincial government. The irriga-
tion districts and the producers they rep-
resent have much at stake if the mussels
make it to Alberta waters. It could cost
millions of dollars to clear the mussels out
of public irrigation pipelines and privately
owned pivots.
In total, the province estimates a mussel
invasion could cost up to $75 million per
year, as irrigators, as well as power gener-
ating stations, property and boat owners,
fishing enthusiasts, and municipal drink-
ing water systems, could all be negatively
a ected.
In order to prevent the spread of mus-
sels, the government passed legislation
in the spring of 2015 mandating that all
boats entering the province stop at inspec-
tion stations. Inspectors examine boats for
the telltale roughness of mussels adhered
to surfaces and make sure that boaters are
aware of the province’s “clean, drain and
dry” policy for boats, meaning that boats
and gear are cleaned; bilges, buckets and
ballasts are drained before leaving the
vicinity of a water body; and any standing
water is dried.
SUPPLEMENTAL SNIFFERS:
Since 2015, Alberta Environment and Parks has supplemented its sta of human inspectors with several mussel-
sni ng dogs to ensure all boats being brought into the province are mussel free.
Photos:AlbertaEnvironmentandParks
Spring
2017
Grains
West
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