Utah inspected more than 9,000 watercraft for invasive species over Labor Day weekend

State agencies spent Labor Day weekend inspecting more than 9,000 boats, kayaks, paddleboards and other watercraft, almost half of them at Lake Powell, to prevent the spread of invasive species.

The watercraft inspections are designed to keep harmful organisms like quagga mussels or Eurasian watermilfoil from spreading between water bodies.

In all 9,418 watercraft were inspected — 440 of them at Lake Powell — and 154 decontaminated between Friday and Monday, according to a news release. Lake Powell is currently the only area in the state with a quagga mussel outbreak. 

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Invasive species technicians from agencies including the Utah Department of Natural Resources, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Utah State Parks, Arizona Game and Fish Department and the National Park Service performed the inspections at more than 40 inspection stations.

In their inspections, DNR officials recorded violations of Utah law looking to prevent the spread of invasive species, according to the news release, mostly from boaters who hadn’t completed the state’s mandatory mussel-aware boater program course, paid the aquatic invasive species fee or failed to remove drain plugs while transporting their watercraft.  

Quagga mussels can spread to water lines, clogging pipes and costing millions of dollars to remove, and damage boat engines. They remove plankton from water, disrupting food supplies for fish. Eurasian watermilfoil spreads quickly to form thick mats that block sunlight, harming native plants and fish, and can clog irrigation systems and tangle around boat propellers. 

DNA from invasive zebra mussels was recently detected for the first time in the Colorado River near Moab, and in neighboring Idaho, quagga mussels have been found for a fourth year in the Snake River.

More information about invasive species can be found at Utah’s STD of the Sea website, which includes a list of decontamination stations around the state and requirements for watercraft.