Quagga Mussel

On Monday, the Idaho State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) began treating several ponds in the Snake River with potash, which is used to exterminate quagga mussels.

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 will once again treat the Snake River near Twin Falls to try to eradicate quagga mussels beginning Tuesday.

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.