Attention needed on mussels
Dear editor: Alberta incidentally saved B.C.’s butt last year when a mussel-infested boat was headed to the Shuswap. It had successfully passed through a Montana border crossing and was caught by one of Alberta’s three sniffer dogs before it made it to British Columbia.
It seems the federal government is dragging its feet when it comes to coughing up some dough to help prevent an invasive mussel problem in B.C.
Members of the Okanagan Water Board are again asking the federal government to speed up some monetary assistance.
Government can be as slow as molasses when it comes to the distribution of money. If we go through another season without adequate protection it will be a miracle if we remain mussel free. So what can we do? Well Penticton council could get organized and present a viable plan at the Southern Interior Local Government Association when they get together to present their annual resolutions at the annual Union of British Columbia Municipalities convention.
But, more importantly they can act on their own. Ask SILGA to relegate a half-aday to this problem and come up with a workable solution to control our watershed area. They should invite relevant cabinet ministers and federal MPs and provincial MLAs to attend this meeting. Here are some ideas: All boats must be registered and a sticker placed on their windshield saying they have been cleared of mussels. Boaters should be discouraged from taking their boats out of province. This would be an annual pass that would have to be renewed annually. Needless to say, it would be expected to be self-paying.
According to an Alberta spokesperson, it costs $25,000 to train a dog and their handler versus the estimate to mitigate an invasive mussel infestation would be $75 million annually.
Marinas must oversee the requirement for stickers at their boat launches. All public boat launches that are unmanned must be closed until a solution is found to deal with them.
Expecting boaters to self-inspect when trained boarder guards miss infestations is unacceptable.
Sounds drastic, I know, but unless adequate protection is taken you can say goodbye to our tourist industry. No one wants to visit a mussel-infested lake. No taxpayer wants to pay millions annually to clean the mussels off of water intake pipes that we use to supply us with the daily water we use. Elvena Slump Penticton