Preventing mussel growth
Provincial defences against a feared invasion of aquatic mussels have been bolstered by new annual funding of $900,000 from BC Hydro.
A further contribution of $150,000 is also being provided by the BC Wildlife Federation, the Pacific Salmon Foundation, and the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation.
The new funding will be directed into the Invasive Mussel Defence Program, which works to keep zebra and quagga mussels out of B.C. lakes and rivers through checks at the border of vessels being towed into the province, water monitoring, and public education.
“The province has made fighting invasive mussels a priority and we will keep taking action alongside our partners and communities,” Nathan Cullen, minister of water, land, and resource stewardship, said in a Tuesday release.
The new investment of more than $1.1 million is in addition to ongoing provincial funding for the mussel defence program. If the sharp-edged mussels were to get established in B.C. waterways, it is said their presence could foul beaches and make them unusable, disrupt the natural aquatic environment, and cause significant damage to public infrastructure.
“Invasive mussels pose an increasing and significant risk not only to B.C.’s rivers and lakes, but also to our ability to produce electricity by plugging pipes and other critical equipment in our generating facilities,” Chris O’Riley, president and CEO of BC Hydro, said in the release.
For many months, the Okanagan Basin Water Board has been leading a campaign to get more federal funding for the mussel defence program. Of new provincial and non-profit funding, OBWB chair Blair Ireland, the mayor of Lake Country, said: “Each new partner and tool help strengthen efforts to keep B.C. waters invasive mussel-free.”
Last year, 21,000 vessels being towed into B.C. were checked for invasive mussels. As well, 86 water samples were tested, all of which came back negative for invasive mussels.
Less than a week after reaching a court settlement with her father, Britney Spears has reached one with her soon-to-beex-husband.
Spears and Sam Asghari submitted an agreement for dividing up their assets to a judge for approval, according to documents filed in a Los Angeles court on Thursday, nine months after they separated.
The filings gave few details but said neither Spears nor Asghari will get future spousal support. Asghari had said in his initial petition that he would seek financial support. Any future disputes would need to be settled in private arbitration.
A judge is likely to sign off on the stipulated solution soon and declare both of them single.
Emails seeking details or comment from lawyers for both Spears and Asghari were not immediately returned.
The two had no children together, so no custody agreement was necessary. Spears wrote in her memoir published last year that she and Asghari had a miscarriage early in a pregnancy about a month before they married.
The 42-year-old pop superstar and Asghari, a 30-year-old model and actor, separated in July, about 13 months after they married and seven years after they began dating. He filed for divorce in August.
Their marriage at her home in June 2022 in front of guests including Selena Gomez, Drew Barrymore, Paris Hilton and Madonna, was seen as a triumphant milestone in her newly reclaimed life after she was freed six months earlier from the court conservatorship that controlled her life and money for more than 13 years.
Last Friday, Spears and her father, Jamie Spears, reached a settlement on the lingering issues from that legal arrangement, avoiding what could have been a long, ugly and revealing trial that was scheduled to start later this month.