Keeping invasive species out of Lake Chelan and other Chelan County waterways is behind an effort by the county and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). Chelan County Natural Resources Director Mike Kaputa raised the concern over Zebra, Quagga and Golden mussels being introduced into the Columbia basin.
State fish and wildlife recently discovered a tugboat at a Spokane port of entry with 21 gallons of mussels on the hull of the boat.
"Zebra and quagga mussels are making their way across the country and they're now in the Columbia basin," Chelan County Natural Resources Director Mike Kaputa told the county commissioners. "We did a risk assessment probably three years ago. It's (Lake Chelan) a high risk area because you have a lot of boats coming into the lake. It's also a high risk area because you have a lot of water intakes. I would expect you to start seeing them on docks, pilings; once they get a foot-hold they can keep expanding."
WDFW has reportedly requested $3.6 million from the legislature to assist with the local effort.
"This funding, I gathered, was to beef up some of the inspection efforts, and also to beef up some of the local and tribal efforts," Kaputa added. "Once they (mussels) come in, in these numbers, there's about a hundred million dollars in damages and mitigation."
State Fish and Wildlife and county Natural Resources say to contact them if you have suspicion about the mussels arriving here.
The Chelan County Lake Chelan Watershed Planning Unit meets this month, and in advance of that meeting, Kaputa shared a continued interest by the Washington State Department of Ecology and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Lake Chelan for some of the toxin issues.
"There are some legacy DDT issues in Lake Chelan," Kaputa noted. "It seems like every five or six years, the Chelan-Douglas Health District gets involved with a fish consumption advisory for lake trout. Lake trout have some of the highest DDT concentrations of fish in the country."
Kaputa added that at the June Lake Chelan Watershed Planning Unit meeting, the U.S. Geological Survey is expected to present a proposal on bull trout re-introduction into Lake Chelan.
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