LAKE HAVASU CITY, Ariz. (AP) - Lake Havasu has begun offering a way to ensure boats don’t spread invasive quagga mussels, which have been a problem at many lakes in the West.
A new decontamination station inside Lake Havasu State Park serviced its first boat this week. The device, inside a shipping container, flushes 140-degree water through a boat’s water intake systems. Boats then need to about a week to dry.
The service is free to boat owners, who are encouraged to use it if they have been in Lake Havasu for more than five days, according to the Today’s News-Herald (https://bit.ly/1LnWh6m ).
Arizona Game and Fish operates the station with a grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Similar models can be found at Lake Mead and Lake Powell, where quagga mussels have been an issue.
The mussels can ruin boat motors and clog water intakes, such as pipes and screens on power and water-treatment plants.
Bobby Watkins, whose houseboat has been at Pirate Cove for five years, was the first patron of the decontamination station this week. Watkins realized he needed to make sure his boat was mussel-free before taking it home to New Mexico.
“I understand it now, and we sure don’t want them in our lake,” Watkins said. He added that New Mexico hasn’t become overrun by the invasive species in the way Arizona has.
Kami Silverwood, a Game and Fish aquatic invasive species specialist, said the importance of cleaning boats and draining water can’t be stressed enough.
“Other western states are like, ’Hey, you have the mussels, you need to contain them,’” Silverwood said.
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Information from: Today’s News-Herald, https://www.havasunews.com
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