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WILLARD BAY -- A discovery in Southern Utah has raised statewide concerns about a tiny creature that's capable of doing tens of millions of dollars in damage.
It appears to be what wildlife experts have been fearing and campaigning against for several years: a quagga mussel. Quagga and zebra mussels are potentially disastrous, so wildlife officials have worked aggressively to keep them out of the state.
But a regional supervisor for the Division of Wildlife Services says a live, adult mussel was found in Hurricane's Sand Hollow Reservoir on May 21. Biologists say the mussel has the markings and characteristics of a quagga.
I just hope that other boaters will take the precautions to clean their boats out like they're supposed to, clean the fish properly before transferring lakes so that everybody can spend a lot of years having fun out on the boat.
–Jared Scott
At Willard Bay and other reservoirs, boaters have had the message drilled into them: don't carry aquatic hitchhikers. Wildlife officers directly contacted 300,000 boats last year, hoping to keep the invasive mussels out of the state.
"Once quagga mussels become established, they reproduce very fast and they do all kinds of damage," said Mark Hadley with the Division of Wildlife Resources.
Most Utah boaters are well aware of the threat. Signs and brochures have been widely distributed.
"I don't want it here in Willard," said boater Cody Valdez. "I don't want it clogging up my boat. I don't want it destroying my engine."
Wildlife officers stop nearly every boat before it's launched to make sure it hasn't come from a contaminated out-of-state waterway.
Now, a lake inside the state is highly suspect. The mussel discovered in Sand Hollow is tiny in size -- just 2 centimeters, less than an inch.
But they're a big threat. They reproduce by the billions and clog pipes, drains, filters, pumps and motors. The possible arrival in Utah prompted an emergency order from the state.
"Anyone who's been boating at Sand Hollow Reservoir in the last 30 days, before they can put their boat on any other body of water in the state, they have to get their boat decontaminated," said Hadley.
The mussels can make life miserable for boaters by clogging motors and for fishermen by sucking nutrients out of a lake. "They'll filter that kind of stuff out of the water, and it can cause fish populations to crash," Hadley said.
Jared Scott is an avid boater from Ogden. He says the discovery is cause for concern.
"It's troubling you know, you don't want it spreading," he said. "I just hope that other boaters will take the precautions to clean their boats out like they're supposed to, clean the fish properly before transferring lakes so that everybody can spend a lot of years having fun out on the boat."
The mussel found at Sand Hollow has been sent to a Colorado lab for confirmation. There have been scares before in Utah, but this is the first actual adult in the shell.
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Story compiled with contributions from John Hollenhorst and The Associated Press.
