… On [peach farmer Rob] Talbott’s farm, water pumps move almost 200 gallons per minute to the thirsty crops on his 145 acres. This year, a new threat is approaching that water system. And it’s microscopic. Invasive zebra mussels have now infested at least 135 miles of the Colorado River, from the Utah border to Dotsero in western Colorado. That includes the stretch that meanders alongside Talbott’s orchards in Palisade. And if these tiny pests flow into his narrow irrigation pipes and tubes, they threaten to mature and block his most precious farming ingredient. These mussels rapidly multiply. A single female lays up to 30,000 eggs. And when they reach adulthood, their sharp shells can wreak havoc on water infrastructure.