InfoNews.ca – August 2, 2019
If you have a dock on a lake in the Okanagan, a local society would like you to keep your eyes peeled for invasive mussels.
The Okanagan and Similkameen Invasive Species Society is asking private dock owners up and down the valley to get involved with their citizen science initiative to monitor for invasive mussels in Okanagan lakes.
The society, which has been monitoring for zebra and quagga mussels for seven years, is looking for help from private dock owners on Wood, Okanagan, Kalamalka, Skaha and Osoyoos lakes, according to a media release.
The initiative, which the society says is the first of its kind in the province, provides participants with mussel monitors they can attach to their docks. Owners will have to check their docks every two weeks for the presence of invasive mussels.
“Once established in a lake, invasive mussels harm ecosystems and impact water supplies,” Okanagan Basin Water Board Anna Warwick executive director said in the release. “The lakes in the Okanagan basin are especially vulnerable to these impacts.”