It would only take one irresponsible boater to cause an infestation of the Okanagan lakes by invasive zebra or quagga mussels, costing the region an estimated $43 million a year.
That’s the message that aquatic invasive species experts brought to a workshop at the Sonora Community Centre in Osoyoos April 4 attended by about 30 people from both sides of the Canada-U.S. border.
There were conflicting views on whether such an invasion by mussels is inevitable or preventable. Some argued that public education is insufficient to stop it, that the weak link is human behaviour and only tougher laws and enforcement can prevent a disaster.
Zebra mussels, originating in Europe, have already taken over many lakes and rivers in eastern North America, including the Great Lakes. With sharp shells the size of fingernails, they encrust themselves on boats, docks, rocks and they choke off water intake pipes. Their sharp shells force bathers to wear shoes.
Contrasting opinions were given by Osoyoos Mayor Stu Wells, who chairs the Okanagan Basic Water Board (OBWB) and aquatic biologist Heather Larratt, of Larratt Aquatic Consultants.
“I’m optimistic that we can head this off,” says Wells, who points to effective anti-mussel campaigns in the northwestern United States that have so far prevented the spread northward from a few infested lakes in Arizona and California.
Larratt is less optimistic as a biologist who has studied how these two mussel species have been spreading.
“You have no idea how badly I want to be wrong and Mayor Wells to be right,” she said.
Both Wells and Larratt, however, agree that B.C.’s lakes came very close to being infected last summer in an incident they both refer to as “the Idaho story.”
The news media last summer reported the incident in general, but not its Idaho connection. A boat brought from Arizona, where several lakes are infected, was put into Shuswap Lake before provincial officials could intercept it. The boat had quagga mussels encased on it, but they were subsequently believed to be dead when the boat entered the water.
What news reports at the time didn’t report, but Wells and Larratt related, was that every year officials in Idaho intercept boats with mussels encrusted on them, some headed to B.C.
Normally when they speak to the boat owners, the owners are willing to have their boats decontaminated. In the case of this Arizona boat, however, the owner simply refused when Idaho officials confronted him.
Concerned Idaho officials attempted to contact authorities in B.C. where they learned the boat was heading, but there was a communications breakdown. A message was left for an official with the B.C. Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources Operations (FLNRO), but the official was on vacation.
Despite having numerous mussels encased on the boat, officials with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) didn’t intercept the boat when it crossed the border.
The boat was already in Shuswap Lake by the time the message from the Idaho officials was received and FLNRO officials responded.
On July 16, 2012 the provincial government triumphantly issued a news release headed “B.C. acts swiftly to deal with invasive species threat” which boasted that the B.C. government responded “decisively” to the threat.
The story prompted some in the audience at the workshop to suggest that tougher rules, such as mandatory inspections, should be implemented and that public education by itself isn’t enough.
“I don’t trust human behaviour,” said John Gates, one member of the audience interested in aquatic issues. “You always get some people at the extreme end whose behaviour destroys it for everybody.”
There will always be some people who don’t do a thorough enough wash of their boats, Gates said, adding that government needs to levy a fee on all boats to set up a self-sustaining inspection program.
“Voluntary does not work,” he said.
Another audience member, Michael McGee, told how Lake Tahoe in Nevada and California has inspection stations at all boat launches.
Larratt noted that mussel larvae are invisible when they are found in bilge water and so boaters can carry them without realizing it.
She outlined the economic damage to the Okanagan that an infestation here would cause. Once the area is infected, mussels cannot be eradicated, she said.
About $5 billion was spent over 10 years mitigating the damage of mussels in the Great Lakes. Officials at Lake Tahoe have estimated that an infestation there would cost $22 million a year.
Larratt’s own ballpark estimate for the Okanagan is $43 million a year for the first few years, although she concedes that she is a biologist and not an economist.
Every year that we don’t have mussels is money in the bank, she added.
“If there’s a silver lining to these mussels, I haven’t found it,” Larratt said, suggesting that these are more destructive than other invasive species.
“This is kind of like Eurasian water milfoil on steroids,” Larratt said.
Other presenters included Anna Warwick Sears, executive director of the OBWB, Lisa Scott of the Okanagan and Similkameen Invasive Species Society (OASISS) and Jodi Romyn of the Invasive Species Council of B.C. They outlined their organizations’ programs to educate the public about aquatic invasive species.
The groups work with their counterparts in the U.S. and other Canadian provinces to ensure that messaging is consistent.
In particular, they want to underline the positive behaviours that boaters should engage in to prevent the spread of invasive species. The number one message is that boaters should “clean, drain, dry” their boats after removing them from the water and before transporting them.
In December, the B.C. government amended its controlled alien species regulations to impose fines for transporting aquatic invasive species. Failure to clean mussels off boats or equipment can result in a fine of up to $100,000.
