Prospect of inspection cuts stirs alarm
Dreaded Zebra mussels are already a scourge in the Great Lakes and South-west. (Photo courtesy U.S. FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE)
(Photo courtesy NPS) A boat propeller is pictured encrusted with mussels.
(Photo courtesy ISDA) Invasive mussels costs states millions of dollars annually to manage.
SANDPOINT — The needle skidded badly off the record at the Idaho Lakes Commission on Friday.
The commission learned that the state’s inspection program, which aims to contain the spread of aquatic invasive species and keep new invaders from gaining a toehold in Idaho waters, might have to be scaled back because last year’s expenditures exceeded funding that was allocated for the program.
“We are currently looking at reduced operations for Idaho’s inspections stations for this coming season,” said Tom Woolf, aquatic plants program manager for the Idaho State Department of Agriculture.
Although Woolf did not present the funding situation in an alarming tone, it was immediately greeted with obvious alarm by the capacity crowd and members of the commission. The prospect of curtailed boat inspections drew some gasps from the crowd and stopped the meeting in its tracks.
“Whoa,” said Commission Chairman Ford Elsaesser, who interrupted Woolf so he could elaborate before moving on with another part of the presentation.
Woolf said budget constraints could see the duration of the annual inspection program reduced and inspection stations’ hours of operation trimmed.
“Our spending authority has been exceeded so that we do not a have the capacity to field the same type of inspection program that we had last year,” said Woolf.
However, Woolf said there is ongoing discussion among Panhandle lawmakers to keep the program from shrinking.
The inspection program is seen as an important bulwark in keeping zebra and quagga mussels from finding a home in Idaho. The dreaded bivalves adhere and form clumps to virtually any hard surface in the marine environment and disrupt water quality by stripping out nutrients.
The invasion of mussels int Great Lakes cost that region an estimated $5 billion in losses. The Idaho Invasive Species Council estimated in 2009 that an infestation in Idaho would have a $94 million impact on dams, marine infrastructure, drinking water systems and boats.
“It’s absolutely devastating if we get them,” said Elsaesser, who witnessed several years ago the effects of a mussel invasion on beaches on Lake Ontario, which were covered with a 3-inch layer of foot-lacerating shells.
The inspection stations in Idaho have intercepted 165 mussel-fouled vessels since 2009, according ISDA figures. The stations inspected 89,390 boats in 2016, an increase of 41 percent over the previous year’s inspections. Last year, inspection stations intercepted 19 vessels contaminated with mussels, four of which were destined for Panhandle waterways, ISDA said.
There is no known method of beating back adult mollusks, although Woolf said there has been progress in going attacking localized infestations when they are at their microscopic stage.
The commission questioned the possible inspection funding shortfall in light of a widely reported Idaho budget surplus that’s expected to surpass $50 million.
Adding to the dismay is the discovery of mussel veligers in the Tiber Reservoir and another suspected infestation in the Canyon Ferry Reservoir, both of which are located in central Montana.
The geography of the Missouri River Basin and Continental Divide is expected to keep those mussels from migrating into the Panhandle through water bodies.
“But in the future it will provide a source for mussels moving in our direction on watercraft,” Woolf said.
Inspections in 2016 indicated that approximately 100 boats came to Idaho from Canyon Ferry and about a dozen more came from the Tiber Reservoir.
The Lakes Commission strongly urged residents to contact Panhandle lawmaker and urge them not to let inspection funding slip.
State Sen. Shawn Keough said she was disappointed at ISDA’s remarks on Friday. Although there is a shortfall, she said lawmakers are working on ways to resolve it and even expand the inspection program.
The inspection program is sustained by the $1.2 million Idaho collects annual through the sale of required aquatic invasive species stickers. Last year, ISDA spent $1.8 million from the fund, resulting in a deficit of $600,000, according to Keough. However, the governor’s recommended budget could reduce the deficit to $141,800.
“The department is well aware that many legislators are working to increase boat inspection stations, their hours of operations and locations as there was a task force on this issue last fall and that was prior to the discovery in Montana,” said Keough, who called the department’s remarks “tone deaf.”
Keough added that the discovery mussels in Montana has prompted additional lawmakers to join the effort to expand the program.
State Rep. Sage Dixon said on Friday that he has been consulting with legislators on the state’s Invasive Species Working Group to improve procedures in high-risk areas.
“I realize the great danger to our lake and our economy that the invasive species present, and have been advocating for more stringent inspections in our area,” Dixon said.
A message seeking comment from state Rep. Heather Scott was not immediately returned on Friday.