Quagga Mussel

Quagga or zebra mussels have been detected in every state in the region except for Wyoming and New Mexico.

It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up to date on all the news that made headlines this past week.

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.

One estimate says a quagga mussel infestation would cost the Pacific Northwest $500 million a year to deal with.

The state won't know until May or June whether the chemical deployed in the Snake River worked to kill all the mussels.

A fully-fledged infestation could cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars to protect infrastructure from the creatures that affix onto hard surfaces in the water, including irrigation and hydropower equipment.

Another invasive snail was recently discovered in the largest Alpine Lake in our region. The Mountain West News Bureau’s Kaleb Roedel tagged along with researchers working to monitor – and control – the spread.

Gov. Brad Little's budget, unveiled earlier this week, included $6.6 million to control the invasive mussels

The rapid timeline from when the Idaho State Department of Agriculture found invasive quagga mussel larvae in the Snake River in September to when it deployed a chemical treatment two weeks later, was unparalleled in the world of invasive mussel control.

The Idaho State Department of Agriculture is releasing a copper-based chemical into the Snake River to target invasive quagga mussels and larvae.