Colorado’s expert on aquatic invasive species said Wednesday the state has an “incredible fight ahead” as it works to contain the spread of zebra mussels in the Colorado River.
“I wish I could tell you the story of zebra mussels has concluded,” Robert Walters told a crowd of dozens of water professionals at the Colorado Water Congress in Aurora. “We’re doing everything we can to contain this population.”
Walters leads Parks and Wildlife’s growing aquatic nuisance species program.
He outlined the state’s latest efforts to prevent the mussels from expanding and clogging pipes that deliver water to farmers and thousands of water users on the West Slope.
He said this year’s strategy includes ramping up testing of hundreds of ponds in the Grand Junction area.
“There is vast network of canals, ditches and washes moving this water,” he said. “Golf courses, people with ponds in their backyards. Everyone who is receiving Colorado River water has the potential to be harboring these highly invasive mussels.”
Parks and Wildlife also has plans to install a new $1.3 million dip tank to improve the decontamination of boats visiting the Highline Lake, a large reservoir near Grand Junction, where mussels were detected in 2022.
The tanks have been deployed in other states and use hot water to quickly flush out and kill mussels attached to boats.
Walters said another focus for this year is to utilize two new officers at Colorado’s points of entry to intercept boats coming into the state with the invasive mussels.
More than 54 mussel infested boats were intercepted at the state borders last year.
“Compliance is a challenge,” Walters said of the roadside checkpoints. “The primary portion of these new officers’ job duties is to enforce compliance at these roadside stations.”
Walters spoke on a panel that included invasive species experts in other Western states who are also working to contain the spread of mussels in their waterways.
Invasive zebra mussels have now infested at least 135 miles of the Colorado River, from the Utah border to Dotsero in western Colorado.
The detection of adult mussels in the Colorado River for the first time last year led to a swift response from Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
New employees were hired to oversee monitoring, and the state expanded its aquatic nuisance species laboratory in Denver.
The growth of the mussels in the Colorado River system has also motivated some water districts in the Grand Valley to preemptively treat parts of their systems with a copper solution to kill any mussel larvae.
Farmers in the region are concerned about what would happen if the rapidly expanding mussels become established in their irrigation systems.
“My mind goes crazy,” Rob Talbott, a peach farmer in Palisade, told KUNC last fall. “The first (challenge) would be just the physical effort to try to clean out the underground pipes. And you know, having to go in and dig it up.”
This story is part of ongoing coverage of the Colorado River, produced by KUNC in Colorado and supported by the Walton Family Foundation. KUNC is solely responsible for its editorial coverage.
