The state of Colorado says it must destroy a lake in order to save it.
Zebra mussels are an invasive pest that causes waterway managers across the United States enormous problems. An invasive species, zebra mussels are a costly headache, with communities often spending billions of dollars per year to control the invasion.
Native to parts of Ukraine and Russia, the freshwater mollusk was accidentally introduced to non-native waters globally, including North America. Zebra mussels grow on infrastructure for water intake either to cool power plants or provide communities with fresh water. The pipes and valves can become clogged, and clearing the blockages is expensive. Zebra mussels can also damage boats.
Now, the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Department says it is determined to eradicate all zebra mussels from Highline Lake, the central attraction of Highline Lake State Park near Grand Junction.
Their plan is an extreme one—not only does CPW want to have another go at poisoning the zebra mussels out of the lake, but the department now says next year it will completely drain the lake, killing fish in the lake in the process.
“We did not make this decision lightly or in haste,” said CPW’s Invasive Species Program Manager Robert Walters in a statement.
CPW says it decided to drain Highline Lake after just five adult zebra mussels were discovered on buoys that were pulled from the lake. With the species’ rapid rate of reproduction, there are sure to be or soon will be thousands more in the lake, CPW warns.
The plan the agency has in place calls for using a “copper-based molluscicide” approved by the US Environmental Protection Agency to reduce the number of living zebra mussels in the lake. That phase of the plan will be put into effect before the end of this year. But CPW doesn’t believe this step alone will resolve the problem.
Beginning in early 2024, CPW says it will begin draining Highline Lake, gradually at first, but the lake draining will continue until all the water is removed by the end of 2024. CPW says that the way it’s planning to go about ridding the lake of zebra mussels means that the lake’s fish ultimately won’t survive there, either.
“Unfortunately, CPW cannot move fish out of Highline Lake into other waters prior to draining due to the risk of moving viable mussels on or inside fish,” the agency said.
To ensure that not all fish are killed and left to rot, CPW says it will remove all fishing limits on anglers. “In this case, the only option is to reduce fish loss by removing bag and possession limits.”
Visitors will be able to fish to their hearts’ content for part of next year—the planned lowering of the lake’s level will mean that it will eventually have to be closed to all boating recreation sometime next year.
CPW had not responded to a Public Parks inquiry by publication time.
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Park Info
Park Name:
Highline Lake State Park
Location:
Colorado, USA
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