Adult zebra mussels have been found in the Colorado River and a nearby lake in Grand Junction, Colorado Parks and Wildlife said Monday.
The agency has detected the invasive species in its larval stage, called a veliger, in past sampling efforts in the river and nearby lakes. This is the first time an adult zebra mussel, a sign of a more established population, has been found in the Colorado River in Colorado.
“While this is news we never wanted to hear, we knew this was a possibility since we began finding veligers in the river,” CPW Director Jeff Davis said in the news release. “I can’t reiterate this enough. It was because we have a group of individuals dedicated to protecting Colorado’s water resources that these detections were made.”