AP News, May 7th, 2007
Scientists and government officials have pledged to step up efforts to protect Lake Tahoe from invasive species, saying the exotics pose a major threat to its future.
Officials said they came away from a two-day conference here last week with a sense of urgency to stop non-native species from taking over the alpine lake stradding the Nevada-California border.
"The news is not good," said Lars Anderson, a U.S. Department of Agriculture scientist who has tracked the movement of invasive weeds in Tahoe's waters. "How do we know we've got a problem? We're seeing it spread."
Among other threats, smallmouth bass have the potential to damage the lake's natural food web and Eurasian watermilfoil _ an underwater weed _ crowd out native vegetation and contribute to declines in water clarity.
"People are freaking out. And we should," University of Nevada, Reno researcher Sudeep Chandra told the Reno Gazette-Journal.
The sense of urgency stems primarily from the threat posed by the quagga mussel, an invasive mollusk that was found thriving in southern Nevada's Lake Mead four months ago after overrunning the Great Lakes.
Experts fear the mussel could be transported to Tahoe by boats, and cause widespread environmental and economic problems if it becomes established.
Quagga mussels are close relatives of the zebra mussel, a species that can latch on to most solid surfaces and quickly reproduce.
Zebra mussels have caused billions in damage to industrial, agricultural and municipal water supplies, and littered Great Lakes beaches with razor-sharp shells, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
"I think it's a huge threat. If it has just jumped all the way across the country, it would be easy for it to just jump up here," Jenny Francis, a planner for the Tahoe Resource Conserservation District, told the Tahoe Daily Tribune.
John Singlaub, executive director of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, said the battle against invasive plants and animals should be made a top priority. He plans to discuss funding the program with Nevada and California officials.
Other important steps, including boat-washing regulations, are included in a "blue boating program" being considered by the agency.
Experts think some non-native species, including milfoil, have been brought to the lake from the outside by recreational boats.
Boats probably have spread the plant around the lake to many marinas as well as Emerald Bay, Tahoe's most popular boating destination, they said.
"We should set the bar high for ourselves right now," Singlaub said. "If we can't do it here, where can we do it?"
