Carson River Coalition ramps effort to fight aquatic invasive species threat

While much-needed attention is being paid to Lake Tahoe regarding invasive species such as the quagga mussel and Asian clams, there is growing concern among local wildlife biologists and water scientists of similar threats along the Carson River watershed.

Experts in related fields from the Nevada Department of Wildlife, Nevada State Parks, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife and others met Tuesday in Carson City as the Carson River Coalition to proactively plan to protect the river against aquatic invasive species.
The meeting was sponsored by the Carson Water Subconservancy District and the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection.

As of today there have been no documented reports of aquatic invasives species in the Carson River system. However, it is a matter of time, says Genie Azad, watershed program manager for the District.

Therefore it is the district's role to provide coordination and program management for collaborative efforts regarding the invasive species threat. Among the efforts will be voluntary boat inspections at Lahontan Reservoir beginning July 4.

The Carson River Coalition is a large group of stakeholders from throughout the Carson River watershed — which includes six counties in two states —mainly composed of federal, state, and local entities, plus university and environmental group, Azad explained. The group has been very successful in many efforts including the development of the Carson River Regional Floodplain Management Plan that was formally adopted by all the counties along the Carson River, and many other projects and programs that are currently active in the watershed. The main group meets on a quarterly basis and addresses a wide variety of watershed issues.  There are also working groups that address specific issues and implement projects. All CRC meetings and activities are open to the public. If you're interested, send Genie your contact information at genie@cwsd.org.

Here's some questions we posed to Azad following the meeting. She replied by e-mail.

Carson Now: How serious is the threat? 

Genie Azad: It is a very serious threat to all our Western Nevada water bodies.  It is a state, federal and local level priority to develop programs to address this issue.   Due to the number of folks fishing, rafting and boating on the Carson many of us feel it is only a manner of time before there are documented finds.  Our goal is to be proactive on this issue. 

CN: What was defined as the current activities, challenges and needs relating to the invasive species threat on the Carson River?

GA: Our main concern is to develop a cooperative program for the Carson River that includes monitoring, outreach and education to address the issue of aquatic invasive species.  As of today there have been no documented reports of aquatic invasives species in the Carson River system. The main species of concern being the New Zealand Mud Snail, Quagga and Zebra Mussels.  These species have been moving across the United States via boats, rafts, etc. and are creating havoc in the systems that they invade. From an ecosystem perspective they remove large amounts of food from the system and end up starving the native species. The waste that is produced accumulates and degrades the ecosystem by using up the available oxygen, creating an acidic water and by producing toxic byproducts.  These pollutants are then passed up the food chain when fish, etc. consume them.  They also can clog water intakes and pipes, and can damage boats by getting into cooling and other systems. Like all invasive species, they are extremely good at “taking over” an ecosystem.  When you lose the biodiversity of an ecosystem the health of that system is severely degraded. 

CN: What are each of the organizations doing to combat the threat?

GA: Current management activities for the Carson River include monitoring by California Fish and Game, Nevada Department of Wildlife, Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) and Nevada State Parks. If we can catch infestations early enough we may stand a chance of avoiding full blown infestations.  Also, starting July 4th there will be voluntary boat inspections at Lahontan Reservoir. Lahontan Reservoir is a big concern for everyone as these species could invade the dam infrastructure and create maintenance nightmares and significantly increase the costs of operation. The BOR is providing funding to entities for the monitoring, boat inspections, and outreach programs. U.S. Fish and Wildlife is also very active on this issue and is spearheading many of the higher level efforts. One of the main things that we can do for the Carson system is to provide outreach and education to folks that use the river system. This would include signage, presentations to fishing and other clubs, and other outreach materials such as brochures, newspaper articles, and of course, information on websites such as yours.

CN: I did hear you speak of pooling resources. What did the meeting accomplish regarding pooling of those resources?

GA: The main outcome of yesterday’s Carson River Coalition meeting is the establishment of a CRC Aquatic Invasive Species Working Group that will delve into the details of developing an appropriate program for the Carson and getting it implemented.This will include developing language for the Carson River Stewardship plan, determining where the signs will go and getting them installed, developing an outreach program, and looking at the current monitoring scheme and boat inspections. We will also pool our resources (funding and staff) to ensure that our proactive approach is actually implemented. With all the budget cuts, etc. all the agencies are stretched to limit so it is extremely important that we work together.