Colorado is in its first year of responding to a zebra mussel infestation in a big river, the Colorado River. State staff say they have what they need to handle the high-priority needs — they just need their funding to stay off the chopping block. The fast-reproducing mussels, or their microscopic stage called veligers, were first detected in Colorado in 2022. Since then, the state’s Aquatic Nuisance Species team and its partners have been working to monitor water, decontaminate boats and educate the public to keep the mussels from spreading. That effort logged a serious failure this summer when state staff detected adult zebra mussels in the Colorado River, where treatment options are limited.

Other invasive species news:

• KLAS (Las Vegas, Nev.): Zebra mussels found in Colorado River, lakes; golden mussels spreading in California