![]() ![]() ![]() If all the zebra mussels aren’t destroyed, the DNR is looking into federal approval for a chemical treatment, which has been used in places like Winnipeg and Virginia. On Christmas Lake, the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District paid $2,500 on equipment and the DNR spent $6,800 for Zequanox. Experts say it is too difficult and costly to kill off zebra mussels on entire lakes, particularly large ones. If they are successful, it is not a guarantee for other lakes like Minnetonka. Crews will monitor the lake daily to answer those questions, but won’t know if the effort was successful for two weeks.Įven then, they will be checking back next spring to see if the mussels return. Wildlife officials want to know how will it affect small minnows in the lake and whether it will kill off 100 percent of the zebra mussels. Officials from other counties and park districts watched the process.īut there are still questions. On Monday, crews boarded a boat and, with gloves and masks, they sprayed the biological pesticide into the lake, turning the water a cloudy white color in the 50-foot by 60-foot area cordoned off from the rest of the lake. The information will be valuable for others.” “If it had been on the whole lake, we probably would have said, ‘Good luck, you got them,’ ” said Craig Dawson, the aquatic invasive species director for the Watershed District. In Christmas Lake, experts were able to detect the infestation early and prevent it from spreading by sectioning off the bay next to the boat launch and closing the public access to the estimated 800 boaters who use it each year. For the first major trial, experts needed a lake that wasn’t fully infested. The product is made from dead bacteria that kill zebra mussels when they eat it. The federal government just approved Zequanox for use in lakes in July. In August, four tiny zebra mussels were discovered near the boat launch, part of an estimated 5,000 juvenile zebra mussels later discovered in the lake as part of the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District’s early detection monitoring program. With Christmas Lake located so close to the massive lake, the local lake association has taken aggressive and sometimes controversial measures to prevent infestation, such as installing a gate at the only public access to prevent boaters from using it when inspectors aren’t there. ![]() Across Minnesota, zebra mussels have already infected nearly 200 waterways, such as Lake Minnetonka. They can quickly proliferate by the millions once they are transported to a lake. Along with being a nuisance to boaters and swimmers, zebra mussels can alter habitat for fish and insects. Zebra mussels have become the central focus in the fight to control the spread of aquatic invasive species. “If it works, it will be a huge success story,” said Keegan Lund, an invasive species specialist with the Department of Natural Resources. Before now, the product had only been used in small experiments or to reduce zebra mussels in power plant water pipes. Geological Survey will test different applications and concentrations of Zequanox on neighboring Lake Minnetonka. ![]() The work on Christmas Lake finished Monday, and now researchers from the U.S. So far, efforts have largely focused on education and prevention, increased boat inspections and restrictions.įor the first time, wildlife officials are going on the offensive. These exotic mussels have spread around the state’s lakes by catching rides on boats and other watercraft. Minnesota officials have been intensifying efforts the past few years to slow the spread of numerous aquatic invasive species. “It’s the first attempt to solve the zebra mussel problem in the world. “This is history,” said Dan Molloy, a New York research scientist who developed the product, called Zequanox, and has advised local leaders. The outcome could be a defining turning point in what has been a losing battle to control an invasive species that has spread to 29 states. A small Minnesota lake is on the forefront of the national effort to kill off the zebra mussels that threaten lakes and rivers around the country.Ĭhristmas Lake in Shorewood became the first in the nation Monday to use a new technology that utilizes dead bacterial cells to eradicate the razor-shelled creatures that can damage boat motors, slice swimmers’ feet and threaten fish populations. ![]()
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