Idaho State Department of Agriculture has found juvenile quagga mussels once again in the Twin Falls area – though at lower levels prior to chemically treating 16 miles of the Snake River last year.
“While we never want to see confirmation of quagga mussels, we know that pest eradication is rarely ‘one and done,’” ISDA Director Chanel Tewalt said in a statement.
The recent round of sampling detected the juvenile mussels include the Shoshone Falls pool, Pillar Falls and the Twin Falls reservoir.
Quagga mussels are invasive and can clog pipes, compete for food with native species and even alter the water chemistry that can boost harmful algae blooms.
Recreators can still access Centennial Park, though mandatory inspections and decontamination of all watercraft are still in effect. The river between Pillar Falls to Twin Falls Dam remains closed.
Tewalt said her department “will continue to push for full eradication” of the mussels.
ISDA will close the Snake River for 15 days sometime in mid-October for a second copper-based molluscicide treatment that killed at least six to seven tons of fish during the initial treatment last fall.
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