National Park Service finds quagga mussels at Lake Powell

PAGE, Ariz. — More than 150 invasive mussels have been found at two marinas at Lake Powell over the last month.

Officials with the National Park Service said the individual adult quagga mussels found at the Wahweap and Antelope Point marinas weren’t close enough to successfully reproduce. The mussels are being physically removed from the lake, which straddles the Arizona-Utah border.

The mussels have multiplied quickly in other waterways across the West, clogging pipes and intakes, and depleting food sources used by aquatic creatures.

Glen Canyon ecologist Mark Anderson said it’s likely the mussels were introduced via ballast or bilge water from boats that were not cleaned, drained or dried. Officials say boats, docks and cables in the Wahweap Bay and Antelope Point areas will continue to be assessed .

In Nevada, scientists have documented a nearly tenfold increase in quagga mussels in Lake Mead since they first were confirmed there in 2007.