InfoNews.ca – September 19, 2018
The battle for funding to keep invasive mussels out of B.C. lakes continues as another boating season winds down for the year.
Okanagan Basin Water Board communications director Corinne Jackson says their request for federal funding earlier in the year was a partial success, with a federal announcement in mid-August of $133,000 annually over three years and $25,000 annually for research.
Jackson says the board has responded with a request to reconsider the amount to match the over $2 million in provincial funding. The U.S. federal government has provided $16 million in matching funds to states in the Pacific Northwest.
“We’re happy to see some movement, for the first time funding provided,” Jackson says.
She says there is evidence the issue is a federal one, based on the most recently available statistics that say 12 out of 20 mussel-fouled watercraft that were intercepted coming into B.C. this summer were from other provinces, with the remainder coming from the United States.