Invasive species, also known as exotics, are plants, animals,
insects, and aquatic species introduced into non-native habitats.
Without natural predators or threats, these introduced species
then multiply.
Often,invasive species travel to non-native areas by ship,
either in ballast water released into harbors or attached to the
sides of boats. From there, introduced species can then spread
and significantly alter ecosystems and the natural food chain as
they go. Another example of non-native species introduction
is the dumping of aquarium fish into waterways.
Invasive species also put water conveyance systems at risk. Water
pumps and other infrastructure can potentially shut down due to
large numbers of invasive species.
California State Parks’ Division of Boating and Waterways is
offering grant funding to prevent the further spread of quagga
and zebra mussels into California’s waterways. Funded by the
California Mussel Fee Sticker (also known as the Quagga
Sticker), the Quagga and Zebra Mussel (QZ) Infestation
Prevention Grant Program expects to award a total of up to $2
million across eligible applicants. Applications will be
accepted from Monday, April 1 through Friday, May 10, 2024.All
applications must be received by 5 p.m. on May 10, 2024. The QZ
grants are available to entities that own or manage any aspect
of water in a reservoir that is open for public recreation, is
mussel-free, and do not have an existing two-year QZ Grant
awarded in 2023.
You may have heard that various kinds of invasive plants and
animals create problems for species that are native to an area.
In the case of the quagga mussel, which only grows to the size
of a thumbnail, its effects extend beyond the natural ecology
and into the built environment. … Rick Boatner, the
invasive species coordinator for the Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife, says the invasive mussels are what’s known as
filter feeders. “They’re removing the lowest part of the food
web out of the water system, the phytoplankton and stuff like
that,” Boatner said. “So now you will not have the food needed
for our salmon fry and steelhead trout species…”
A dog-killing parasite that was believed to only exist in Texas
and other Gulf Coast states has been discovered as far west as
California for the first time, scientists have warned. Experts
at the University of California Riverside found the
Heterobilharzia americana parasite, a flatworm commonly known
as a liver fluke, in spots along the Colorado River where it
runs through Southern California. According to the university,
the flatworm has never before been seen outside of Texas and
surrounding areas, and other studies have found most infections
occur in Texas and Louisiana, though some have occurred in
North Carolina, Texas, and Kansas.
California State Parks’ Division of Boating and Waterways (DBW)
today announced the availability of grant funding to prevent
the further spread of quagga and zebra mussels into
California’s waterways. Funded by the California Mussel Fee
Sticker (also known as the Quagga Sticker), the Quagga and
Zebra Mussel (QZ) Infestation Prevention Grant Program expects
to award a total of up to $2 million across eligible
applicants.
Giant sequoia trees, imported to the UK 160 years ago, are
flourishing despite the dramatically different climate to their
native California, a new study has found. The huge trees, which
are declining in numbers in California due to increasing heat,
are now adapting well to the UK’s climate and growing taller, a
study conducted by UCL researchers says. “The growth here
in the UK seems to be suited to our wetter climate, so there’s
far less chance of water stress here than in the Sierras in
California,” lead author of the study and professor of
geogrpahy, Mat Disney, told The Independent.
If left unattended, quagga mussels can cause extensive harm to
a facility and the fight against this invasive species is
seemingly never-ending. Further efforts are being put into
place to uphold systemic stability at Glen Canyon Dam with the
installation of new and improved strainer baskets. Quagga
mussels create plenty of challenges when they are alive and
intact and need to be removed. However, as they die and are
removed, their shell debris collects in the system which can
clog pipes if left unattended. These specific strainer baskets
are being used to filter the cooling water that is piped from
the penstocks to the generating unit’s air housing and baring
coolers. Strainer baskets have been used at Glen Canyon Dam for
many years to aid in the collection of shell debris, but as the
mussel infestation has persisted, so has the need for
improvements to the baskets and strainer system. In the past it
was necessary to stop the flow of cooling water to be able to
clean the baskets.
Salmon face many perils during their migration to the ocean,
including disease, entrainment, degraded water quality, and
predation. However, predation has been the factor that has
generated the most interest and debate. FISHBIO has been
conducting a research program focused on fish species that prey
on other fish in the Stanislaus River to understand how
predatory fishes may affect juvenile salmon migration.
… The most frequently encountered predators were the
non-native striped bass (Morone saxatilis) and black bass
(multiple species in the genus Micropterus), and the
native Sacramento pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus grandis). Analysis
of their diet contents revealed that the non-native basses
consumed native fish species such as fall-run Chinook salmon
(Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and Pacific lamprey (Entosphenus
tridentatus) at significantly higher frequencies than native
predators …
Iron Gate, the lowest of the Klamath dams, was breached first
on Jan. 9, followed by J.C. Boyle in Oregon, and finally, Copco
1. Draining the three reservoirs marks another milestone toward
the removal of dams in the Lower Klamath
Project. … In total, KRRC expects 5 to 7 million
cubic yards of sediment — the same amount that the Klamath
River would normally drain in a single year — to wash
downstream over a short period of time. The material, composed
mostly of very fine silt and dead algae, has imbued the river
with a dark coffee color. For several days last week,
dissolved oxygen levels in the first 20 miles below Iron Gate
dam hovered close to zero. Decomposing algae rob water of
oxygen, as do oxidizing minerals. As the last of the reservoirs
drained, they released oxygen-poor water, as well.
In the vast labyrinth of the West
Coast’s largest freshwater tidal estuary, one native fish species
has never been so rare. Once uncountably numerous, the Delta
smelt was placed on state and federal endangered species lists in
1993, stopped appearing in most annual sampling surveys in 2016,
and is now, for all practical purposes, extinct in the wild. At
least, it was.
This tour guided participants on a virtual journey deep into California’s most crucial water and ecological resource – the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The 720,000-acre network of islands and canals support the state’s two major water systems – the State Water Project and the Central Valley Project. The Delta and the connecting San Francisco Bay form the largest freshwater tidal estuary of its kind on the West coast.
Nutria are large, beaver-like
rodents native to South America that have caused alarm in
California since their rediscovery along Central Valley rivers
and other waterways in 2017.
The growing leadership of women in water. The Colorado River’s persistent drought and efforts to sign off on a plan to avert worse shortfalls of water from the river. And in California’s Central Valley, promising solutions to vexing water resource challenges.
These were among the topics that Western Water news explored in 2018.
We’re already planning a full slate of stories for 2019. You can sign up here to be alerted when new stories are published. In the meantime, take a look at what we dove into in 2018:
Sixty percent of California’s developed water supply
originates high in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Our water
supply is largely dependent on the health of our Sierra forests,
which are suffering from ecosystem degradation, drought,
wildfires and widespread tree mortality.
We headed into the foothills and the mountains to examine
water issues that happen upstream but have dramatic impacts
downstream and throughout the state.
GEI (Tour Starting Point)
2868 Prospect Park Dr.
Rancho Cordova, CA 95670.
For more than 100 years, invasive
species have made the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta their home,
disrupting the ecosystem and costing millions of dollars annually
in remediation.
The latest invader is the nutria, a large rodent native to South
America that causes concern because of its propensity to devour
every bit of vegetation in sight and destabilize levees by
burrowing into them. Wildlife officials are trapping the animal
and trying to learn the extent of its infestation.
Estuaries are places where fresh and
salt water mix, usually at the point where a river enters the
ocean. They are the meeting point between riverine environments
and the sea, with a combination of tides, waves, salinity, fresh
water flow and sediment. The constant churning means there are
elevated levels of nutrients, making estuaries highly productive
natural habitats.
A troublesome invasive species is
the quagga mussel, a tiny freshwater mollusk that attaches itself
to water utility infrastructure and reproduces at a rapid rate,
causing damage to pipes and pumps.
First found in the Great Lakes in 1988 (dumped with ballast water
from overseas ships), the quagga mussel along with the zebra
mussel are native to the rivers and lakes of eastern Europe and
western Asia, including the Black, Caspian and Azov Seas and the
Dneiper River drainage of Ukraine and Ponto-Caspian
Sea.
This 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, explains how
non-native invasive animals can alter the natural ecosystem,
leading to the demise of native animals. “Unwelcome Visitors”
features photos and information on four such species – including
the zerbra mussel – and explains the environmental and economic
threats posed by these species.
This 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, explains how
non-native invasive plants can alter the natural ecosystem,
leading to the demise of native plants and animals. “Space
Invaders” features photos and information on six non-native
plants that have caused widespread problems in the Bay-Delta
Estuary and elsewhere.
The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to the Delta explores the competing
uses and demands on California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Included in the guide are sections on the history of the Delta,
its role in the state’s water system, and its many complex issues
with sections on water quality, levees, salinity and agricultural
drainage, fish and wildlife, and water distribution.