State lawmakers address invasive mussel threat

HELENA — Lawmakers from two legislative appropriations panels on Monday got their first look at a proposal to begin spending $5.1 million per year to combat the threat of invasive mussels in Montana’s waterways. The state currently spends $1.2 million annually on existing mussel prevention efforts.

Members of the Montana Mussel Response Team, assembled in December to address the state’s first-ever detections of invasive mussel larvae, told the joint appropriations committees on long-range planning and natural resources that state agencies would also need the authority to enforce mandatory boat inspections for vessels entering the state.

Matt Wolcott, one of the team’s two commanders, said that after several water samples from Tiber Reservoir tested positive for mussel larvae last fall, the focus of Montana’s mussel program will need to shift from prevention to containment.

“We were primarily in defensive mode, and now we are considered a source state to our neighbors,” Wolcott said. “While there’s no smoke column looming over the Capitol today, we believe based on our conversations with our scientific advisory panel and the science we’ve reviewed, it’s highly likely we have adult mussel populations in Montana.”

Under the team’s recommendations, Montana would double its fleet of watercraft inspection stations from 17 to 34 and install four decontamination stations around Tiber and Canyon Ferry reservoirs. Canyon Ferry had several suspected mussel detections, but additional testing did not yield positive results.

Those two programs would cost $8.2 million over the next two years, and special events such as fishing tournaments could be required to pay for additional temporary decontamination stations.

Although temporary closures on the two water bodies have since been lifted, boaters would likely be required to abide by stricter inspection and decontamination requirements before and after launching.

“If you plan to recreate on Canyon Ferry or Tiber, it’s going to be different from what you’ve seen in the past,” said Randy Arnold, the other commander of the mussel team.

The state’s monitoring program would also be significantly expanded to roughly triple the number of water samples collected each year, and new sampling and laboratory staff would be hired to cut down on the months-long sampling backlog. Testing of samples from Tiber and Canyon Ferry did not reveal the detections until last October — despite the sampling being conducted in July.

Noting that no methods exist to eliminate invasive mussels once they’ve become established, Wolcott said the proposals were recommended “in perpetuity,” rather than as a one-time appropriation.

Members of the committee noted the tight fiscal environment for state government with lower-than-expected revenues, but still expressed support for a more robust invasive mussel program.

“I understand we’re at a point now that this is all necessary, but it still chaps my hide that a lot of this should have been done in 2011,” Sen. Duane Ankney, R-Colstrip, said, referring to failed legislation that would have expanded the prevention program. “We have walked into this with our eyes open. It didn’t sneak up on us.”

While noting the proposals had arisen from outside the governor’s office, Department of Natural Resources and Conservation Director John Tubbs told the panel that Gov. Steve Bullock had endorsed the team’s recommendations. Rep. Mike Cuffe, R-Eureka, who chairs the joint appropriations subcommittee on long-range planning, urged his colleagues to support the recommendations.

“What I’m hearing here in the incident command team’s proposals, these are not the governor’s proposals,” Cuffe said “This is a presentation of these guys who have immersed themselves in this thing.”

The destructive potential of mussel infestation to hydroelectric dam infrastructure has been estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Tubbs told the committee he hopes the federal government, particularly the Bureau of Reclamation, will contribute at least 50 percent of the funding for the recommendations.

He added that the state has requested funding this year from $4 million the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is expected to release to states in the Columbia River Basin by mid-April.

Other recommendations from the mussel team include: requiring out-of-state watercraft to undergo mandatory inspections prior to launching; creating an annual sticker requirement for motorized and non-motorized watercraft in the state; providing the authority for the state to enact closures or restrictions on contaminated waterways; and establishing a more aggressive response plan should mussels be detected elsewhere.

While no legislation has been introduced to enact the team’s proposals, Tubbs said the supplemental appropriations bill, currently before a Senate committee, would provide $1.5 million to allow the state to begin implementing the plan through the end of June.

Reporter Sam Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.