The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) is deploying a range of monitoring, treatment and infrastructure measures to protect the State Water Project (SWP) from the rapidly growing threat posed by invasive golden mussels. Golden mussels can colonize pipes, pumps and other water infrastructure, creating biofouling that can restrict flows, damage equipment and increase maintenance requirements. DWR’s response includes expanded environmental DNA (eDNA) testing and inspections throughout the SWP to detect infestations early. At affected facilities, DWR is using low-dose copper treatments as its primary mitigation strategy while increasing manual cleaning, pipeline flushing, power washing and hand-scraping. 

Other invasive species news:

• Mammoth Time (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.): Mammoth Lakes Recreation deploys new tool in the fight against golden mussels