On a zebra hunt: Emergency Zebra Mussels order made permanent

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission voted Thursday to make permanent an emergency order adding Lake Ray Roberts, Lake Lewisville and the section of the Elm Fork of the Trinity that connects the two reservoirs to the list of water bodies under special regulations intended to control the spread of zebra mussels.

The emergency order had been signed by TPWD Executive Director Carter Smith at the end of July following the discovery earlier that month of the destructive invasive species in Lake Ray Roberts, which is north of Denton.

Zebra Mussels have plagued much of the North Texas Municipal Water District, which Sunnyvale is a part of as a consumer, since 2009.

According to the NTMWD the presence of zebra mussels was first confirmed in April 2009 in Lake Texoma in the Red River Basin along the Texas-Oklahoma border. They were most likely introduced into Lake Texoma through overland transport from an infested water body. Following this local introduction, the presence of zebra mussels has been reported in both the Red River and Washita River arms of Lake Texoma. A pipeline leading south from Lake Texoma past the City of Sherman water treatment plant to West Prong Sister Grove Creek enables the interbasin transfer of water from the Red River to the Trinity River Basin.

The transferred water flows through Sister Grove Creek and into Lavon Lake, where it is then utilized as a drinking water supply for residents in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area of north Texas. The pipeline thus provides a direct route for interbasin transfer of zebra mussels, but since the discovery of the species in Sister Grove Creek (August 2009), the transfer of water from Lake Texoma to Lavon Lake has been halted. In July 2012, however, the presence of zebra mussels in Ray Roberts Lake was verified. Ongoing studies are being conducted to determine if this is a reproducing zebra mussel population

Earlier this year, the commission amended TPWD's regulations that impact anglers and boaters on a section of the Red River including Lake Texhoma and Lake Lavon. All water needs to be drained from boats (this includes live wells and bilges) before leaving any water body with the special regulations in order to comply with rules prohibiting the transport of harmful exotic species. Taking this precaution is crucial in efforts to slow the spread of zebra mussels, since contaminated boats are one of the primary ways this happens. Draining water from boats prevents the spread of a microscopic form of the zebra mussel called a veliger, which is invisible to the naked eye.

The rule approved by the commission Thursday does allow a person to travel on a public roadway via the most direct route to another access point located on the same body of water without draining water from their boat.

The zebra mussel is a small, non-native mussel originally found in Eurasia. It has spread throughout Europe, where it is considered to be a major environmental and industrial menace. The animal appeared in North America in the late 1980s and within 10 years had colonized in all five Great Lakes and the Mississippi, Tennessee, Hudson, and Ohio river basins. Since then, they have spread to additional lakes and river systems, including in North Texas.

Zebra mussels live and feed in many different aquatic habitats, breed prolifically, and cannot be controlled by natural predators. Adult zebra mussels colonize all types of living and non-living surfaces including boats, water-intake pipes, buoys, docks, piers, plants, and slow moving animals such as native clams, crayfish, and turtles. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates the potential economic impact of zebra mussels to be in the billions of dollars.

For more information on zebra mussels and how to clean, drain and dry a boat, visit http://www.texasinvasives.org/.

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