Golden Mussels: A New Threat at the Watershed's Gates
State and regional partners are racing to keep an aggressive invasive mussel out of Sierra reservoirs.
American River Canyon Alliance
Invasive species rarely announce themselves. By the time they are easy to see, they are usually impossible to remove.
That is why state and regional partners are moving early against the golden mussel, an aggressive freshwater invader that can clog water systems, foul boats, and crowd out native life. The Sierra Nevada Conservancy reports that agencies are working to keep the mussel out of Sierra reservoirs, the high-country waters that store and release much of what flows down the American River.
The defense is unglamorous and it works: inspect boats, clean and dry gear between waters, and catch a problem before it establishes. A mussel carried in on a trailer from an infested lake is all it takes.
For a watershed like ours, the stakes are practical. The reservoirs at the headwaters shape flows, temperatures, and habitat all the way down the canyon. Protecting them protects the river.
If you boat, paddle, or fish across more than one body of water, the ask is simple. Clean, drain, and dry every time. More on the effort at sierranevada.ca.gov.
Cover photo: UncleVinny, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.