Vernon Morning Star – January 18, 2022
Water quality advocates in the Shuswap are pushing the federal government to take stronger action to prevent invasive mussel species from entering local waters.
A joint letter from the Shuswap Watershed Council (SWC), the Shuswap Waterfront Owners Association and the Columbia Shuswap Invasive Species Society (CSISS) to Joyce Murray, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, describes how an infestation of Zebra and Quagga mussels would have costly impacts to water quality, beaches, fish populations and habitat, water utilities, hydro-electric facilities and property values.
The letter requests more funding and resources from the ministry on the matter.
CSISS executive director Robyn Hooper says the organizations have early-detection monitoring programs for mussels, and they are educating people about how to prevent the spread.