The effort to keep the invasive quagga mussel out of Oregon may get help from legislators in the current session.
Officials have been on guard against the aquatic species that can multiply quickly, clog irrigation systems and foul boats.
State Rep. Mark Owens, a Republican from Crane who represents Malheur County, is one of the sponsors of House Bill 2982 which would boost boat registration fees to fund the Aquatic Invasive Species Prevention Fund. That would raise an estimated $500,000 a year, according to a legislative analysis.
Such funding could help one of the frontline defenders against the mussels -– the Center for Lakes and Reservoirs at Portland State University.
Teams from the center prowl Oregon rivers and lakes, watching for any sign that the mussels have arrived.
Oregon officials stepped up their efforts after the mussel was discovered again last year in the Snake River in the area of Twin Falls, Idaho.
The mussels have no natural predator and their numbers can increase rapidly with the right water conditions. The worry in Oregon is that they will get into waterways tapped by irrigators for their crops. The mussels can restrict or even plug up water intakes and clearing them out is difficult and expensive.
“We feel like it’s coming,” said Arick “Kit” Rouhe, interim director of the Center for Lakes and Reservoirs.
The center’s prime job is to monitor Oregon waterways to detect invasive species such as the quagga mussel.
“The Snake River is a priority for us,” he said.
As in past years, teams will be dispatched in the spring to start the hunt for the mussels, working through the fall. The teams last checked the Snake River bordering Malheur County in mid-September.
They launch a 14-foot aluminum boat, dragging a net meant to capture the mussel in its larval stage, known as a veliger.
The teams put in at boat ramps along the Snake River.
The field technicians also are checking for the adult mussels, which can grow to about the size of a quarter. They turn over rocks along the bank and run their hands along boat docks, feeling for the mussels.
In years of such surveys, the teams haven’t found any sign of the mussel in Oregon.
Rouhe said officials also worry about the mussels making their way into the Columbia River, where they would pose a risk for dams.
He said the greatest risk for the spread of mussels is recreational boats. He said boats contaminated with the mussel in other parts of the country could bring them into Oregon. That’s why a key now is to alert boaters to check their vessels and to go through state inspection stations.
Lake Owyhee has ideal conditions for quaggas, Rouhe said.
“If a boat traveled there, it could accidentally transport them there. Owyhee is a major destination for the possibility to invade,” he said. “Our best defense is boater buy-in.”
Rouhe said the survey work by his center has no direct state funding. Instead, state and federal agencies provide money for the work.
He said he hopes legislators will agree this year to more directly fund the work.
News tip? Contact Editor Les Zaitz at [email protected].
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