State: Zebra mussels infesting Lake Travis
Lake is now home to an established, reproducing population.
Zebra mussels — the small, striped scourge that has infested Texas waterways since 2009 and caused billions of dollars in damage across the country — have slipped into the waters of Lake Travis, state wildlife officials warned Tuesday.
Biologists from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Lower Colorado River Authority confirmed the presence of zebra mussels in the Central Texas reservoir Thursday after a worker at a marina reported seeing a single zebra mussel attached to the outboard motor of a moored boat on the lake, officials said.
Biologists then found the mussels on other nearby boats and on submerged marina infrastructure, according to a statement from the department. Additionally, they found several size classes of adult and juvenile mussels
at two different sites in the lake, indicating that the lake is now home to an established, reproducing population, the department said.
The department said zebra mussels can cover shoreline rocks and litter beaches with sharp shells, clog public water intakes, and damage boats and motors left in infested waters.
The small, razor-sharp invasive species, with origins in Eastern Europe, has been spreading across the United States since 1988, when the first established population was found between Lake Huron and Lake Erie, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
A report produced by the Idaho Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force in 2009 said congressional researchers found that zebra mussels clogging industrial pipes in the Great Lakes cost the power industry there an estimated $3.1 billion from 1993 through 1999. Costs from other affected industries in the area combined for a total of roughly $5 billion, the report said.
In 2009, the first zebra mussels in Texas were found on Lake Texoma. The mussels then spread to nine more lakes and five river basins in the state before finally landing in Lake Travis. Other Texas lakes with mussel infestations include: Lake Belton, Canyon Lake, Lewisville Lake, Eagle Mountain Lake and Lake Bridgeport.
Biologists also confirmed that the invasive species had spread to the Guadalupe River basin a few weeks ago.
“This is pretty disheartening for us and our many partners, including marinas, who work to prevent this invasive species from spreading,” said Monica McGarrity, who leads the state wildlife department’s aquatic invasive species team. “It’s two new river basins with infestations this year.”
The Parks and Wildlife Department’s inland fisheries regional director, Brian Van Zee, said the next step is to educate the public to help prevent the spread of zebra mussels to nearby lakes.
“This is a battle we cannot give up on — the cost of these infestations is large and affects so many people,” Van Zee said in the department’s statement Tuesday.
McGarrity said in the department’s statement that zebra mussel larvae could end up floating downstream to Lake Austin and Lady Bird Lake.
But the more immediate risk, she said, is that zebra mussels could infest other lakes via recreational gear traveling from Lake Travis or other infested lakes.
“The longer we can stave off new infestations the longer we can prevent potential recreational impacts or costly impacts to infrastructure,” McGarrity said.
Texas law prohibits the possession or transportation of zebra mussels, dead or alive. Boaters are required to drain all water from their boat (powered or unpowered) and onboard receptacles before leaving or approaching a body of freshwater to prevent the transfer of zebra mussels, the Texas wildlife department says.
McGarrity said marinas play an important role as gatekeepers that can help prevent boats with attached zebra mussels from entering their lakes.
Paradise Cove Marina General Manager Matt Rinella said every boat coming into the marina from any other water source is cleaned and inspected.
He said vessels are pressure-washed with hot water and bottom-painted so spores of invasive species cannot stick around and spread in the new habitat. Additionally, all freshwater tanks onboard have to be evacuated.
The idea, Rinella said, is to make sure no water from another lake is on a vessel when it takes the plunge into Lake Travis.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department says marinas should call the agency at 512-389-4848 if zebra mussels are found on incoming boats — or for coordination when boats are leaving marinas on infested lakes.