Marina Dock Age

Divers have found what appears to be an adult quagga mussel underneath a boat dock in Sand Hollow Reservoir, and it is changing the way boating will take place in Utah, according to a May 23 report in The Spectrum.

At press deadline, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) was awaiting test results from Colorado to determine whether the mussel was a quagga or another type. If it’s a quagga mussel, there’s a good chance there are more of them in the reservoir, said Douglas Messerly, regional supervisor for DWR.

Because the quagga mussels can do all sorts of damage to water and fish populations, DWR signed a legal rapid response plan notice on May 22. It requires any type of recreational equipment that had been in Sand Hollow during the past 30 days, including boats, to be decontaminated before launching at any water in Utah.

The notice requires all boaters leaving the reservoir to use one of six decontamination stations if they plan on visiting another body of water within the next 18 days. The decontamination service is free to all boaters using the Dan Hollow Reservoir, but they may have to wait several minutes to use the service. Decontamination is the only way to stop the spread of these mussels, said Lynn Chamberlain, Southern region conservation outreach manager for the DWR.