Quagga mussels have invaded Lake Powell, Glen Canyon Dam

Like a bad rumor spread with malicious intent, invasive and destructive quagga mussels have finally taken hold at the massive Lake Powell reservoir on the Utah/Arizona border. Glen Canyon National Recreation Area officials announced Tuesday that "thousands" of adult quagga mussels have been found from Glen Canyon Dam to Bullfrog Bay, some 95 miles up the lake. The mussels have caused extensive damage across the country since landing in the Great Lakes in the 1980s. State officials estimate an infestation in Utah would cost more than $15 million annually if the 6,000 miles of pipes and canals and numerous dams become coated with the creatures. The mussels can also severely impact fisheries, aquatic life and tourism as a result of sharp shells lining the beaches of popular recreation areas. "I can picture what Lake Powell is going to look like and it isn’t pleasant," said Greg Sheehan, director of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR). "Every beautiful sandstone outcropping will be encrusted with snails. The days of running barefoot on the beaches will be gone." The growing number of mussels at Lake Powell — the recreation area’s website says more than 1,300 adult mussels have been removed — does not mean attempts to prevent other waters will be halted. "We are going to tighten up our efforts to educate boaters and make sure they know the threat they could carry with them if they leave Lake Powell with water in their boat," said Jordan Nielson, aquatic invasive species coordinator for the Utah DWR. "We need to make every effort to keep mussels from getting to other waters."...more

This could have been prevented.  They should have turned it over to Sec. Kerry and the U.N.