Zebra mussels were on The Gazette’s front page not once but twice last week. The reason is because they are a serious threat. Zebra mussels have the ability to take over and harm water supplies in Kansas and other states.
The problem with zebra mussels is that they can transfer easily to new bodies of water. They spread quickly, and it is difficult to kill them.
It happens like this. A boat goes into a lake that is infested with zebra mussels. A mussel attaches to a boat. The boat owner does not properly clean the boat according to state guidelines. The boater then puts the boat in another lake and now the zebra mussel is in that lake.
Or another example: A person goes fishing and fills a bucket of water to transfer a fish to another lake. Zebra mussels start out as invisible larvae so larvae can be in that bucket of water and a person can’t see them. Once that bucket of water is dumped into another pond, that water is now infected. One zebra mussel will turn into a million in several years.
Eventually, mussels work their way into city water pipes and clog the pipes. Cities like Lawrence discovered them in their water treatment plant and now are having to spend large sums money to deal with the problem. The Cheney reservoir near Wichita has them, and Wichita spent $2 million to deal with the problem.
Last week, the Gazette reported that Zebra mussels were found in Council Grove Lake. Because Council Grove Lake supplies the City of Emporia with water, now our water system is in jeopardy. And because the Emporia water treatment plant supplies water to the Lyon County rural water districts, this will affect all residents of Lyon County, not just Emporians.
The only way to eradicate zebra mussels is by killing everything in lakes and rivers.
The zebra mussel infestation is a story we have been following for more than a year. Unfortunately it is a story that has not gained much attention statewide. Although the state has biologists monitoring the situation and has put safeguards in place, we question if it is enough.
Clearly, at the state and federal level more research needs to go into how to eradicate these nasty pests.
Emporia State University has talked about coordinating with other Regents schools to do more bioscience research. Perhaps a consortium can be put together to find a way to eradicate the zebra mussels and save Kansas lakes and rivers from infestation.
More needs to be done. Perhaps if we think of zebra mussels as our Katrina or Gulf oil spill, people and officials will be prompted to do more now.
Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...
Chris
I would think that Jim Barnett voting against the Kansas sheild law would be more worrisome to you and the Gazette than Zebra mussles. i know you are losing staff through retirement and such but for goodness sakes quit trying to mimic usa today by dumbing down your stories while putting in colorful pictures and go back to what grandpa did when he was running things. Right now you are well on your way of going down the same path that Blockbuster video has gone.
July 7, 2010 at 8:50 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
beatle42 (anonymous) says...
It's a challenge to control invading alien species. A much larger impact for this area of the state is lespedeza which threatens to overtake much of the Flint Hills.There are numerous other invaders like the carp which appear to have moved into the Great Lakes. The most we can ever hope for is control, not elimination. There are no examples that I'm aware of in which we have eliminated an established alien invading species. Control is costly and often fruitless at best.
July 7, 2010 at 9:01 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
methusla (anonymous) says...
I wonder if there is anything to this piece of info.
Science NewsView
Safe bacterium found to kill zebra mussels
http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2008/...
July 7, 2010 at 10:01 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
Methusla, That article is dated October, 2008. You'd think that by now local biologists would be able to get their hands on this stuff to control zebra mussels. I don't doubt there is such a substance, I just don't understand the lapse.
Chris, I think it's distasteful of you to compare the zebra mussel problem to Katrina or the Gulf oil spill. There were many deaths involved with both of those disasters, as well as large scale unemployment and huge kill offs of precious gulf ecosystems. Shame on you!
July 8, 2010 at 4:35 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
neighbor (anonymous) says...
I saw in a previous article where it was suggested to introduce another foreign species to eradicate the mussels. Ummm how to say this PC, heck with PC, Don't be an idiot and introduce another species that doesn't belong here, that's the problem in the lst place.
July 8, 2010 at 5:38 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
methusla (anonymous) says...
I don' t understand the lapse either, create . Perhaps the substance, safe bacteria is very costly and that is why it is not being used.
July 8, 2010 at 8:58 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
I understand that crayfish have been used and make a pretty good bio control; however, they don't survive well in cold climates. So we'd only have them during the summer months. But don't crayfish live in the rivers around here? I thought they did.
July 9, 2010 at 9:05 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
methusla (anonymous) says...
create,
Yes we do have crayfish in our rivers, creeks and ponds, only we call them " crawdads " . Only they will taste a litter different than down south, because of the differences of the minerals, etc., in the water.
July 9, 2010 at 10:48 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
cwalker (anonymous) says...
Corbin,
I need to stop into the TR for a drink.
We are concerned and covered Barnett's lack of support for the shield law. We find it appalling how he voted on that.
But Zebra mussels is also a serious story that deserves attention.
It has a potential to cost tax payers millions of dollars if it gets out of hand. We have devoted two days to the topic talking with state biologists.
This is a story that no other paper in the state has covered like we have.
You are getting in-depth journalism by our reporters on an issue that you may not have been aware of.
Is that not what you want from your small hometown paper?
Can you please talk Bobbi into not retiring? I think we are going to chain her to the desk so she cant leave.
Thanks
Chris Walker
July 9, 2010 at 11:21 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )