Corps Urges Boaters to Guard Against Zebra Mussels

The Corps of Engineers is seeking the public’s cooperation in keeping Zebra mussels out of New Mexico lakes and other U.S. lakes.

There are no known Zebra mussels in New Mexico lakes at this time but more than half the U.S. states are infested with them said Bruce Hill of the Corps Albuquerque District.

Boat owners should clean drain and dry out their boats each weekend and participate in boat inspections to avoid spreading the mussels which can attach to anything that is submersed in fresh water ponds or lakes and spread by “hitchhiking” on boats that travel from one body of water to the next. One mussel can produce as many as one million mussels in a year and the infestation is costing the U.S. more than $1 billion each year in associated damages and costs to control their spreading.