By Times Chronicle Staff
The fight to keep the Okanagan invasive mussel-free continues with the Okanagan Basin Water Board (OBWB) recently briefed on a new threat with the discovery of an invasive mussel new to North America, the golden mussel.
This species, originally from China, represents a “significant threat to infrastructure and habitats” and can adapt easily to lakes with low calcium content, the OBWB said. The mussels were first detected in California in October 2024.
The non-native range of the Golden mussels now includes Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina and now California.
While the Okanagan remains invasive mussel-free, the costs of an infestation from any of the invasive mussels including quagga and zebra mussels, are expected to be tens of millions.
Golden Mussel shells collected in October 2024 at a water quality station at Rough and Ready Island near Stockton in San Joaquin County, California, USA.
Elizabeth Wells, Ph. D. (DWR)/California Department of Fish and Wildlife photo
Staff from the OBWB were also set to attend a summit on invasive mussel prevention and readiness, hosted by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. The OBWB hope to learn lessons from the on-going Snake River, Idaho incursion of quagga mussels.
And on the precipitation front the OBWB noted that La Niña has yet to bring a colder wetter fall/winter to the Okanagan.
It wrote in early December that despite harsh weather events in other parts of the province, and a predicted La Niña winter which should see more rainfall and cooler temperatures, the Okanagan has had less rainfall than usual in September and November this year compared to the monthly average rainfall from 1994-2023 in Coldstream, Kelowna, and Penticton.
