Invasive mussels found on boat at lake

Boat inspectors prevented a vessel with 37 quagga mussels on it from entering Lake Tahoe on Sunday.

Inspectors discovered the boat and the mussels at the Spooner boat inspection station at midday Sunday, said Pete Brumis, a spokesman for the Tahoe Resource Conservation District, which administers Lake Tahoe's boat inspection program.

The motorized boat came from Lake Mead in southern Nevada, a water body that's infected with the invasive species.

The boat owner was cooperative and let inspectors know the vessel had been in Lake Mead, Brumis said.

Officials are unsure whether the vessel was decontaminated after leaving Lake Mead, Brumis said.

After the mussels were found, the boat underwent several rounds of decontamination with 140-degree water. Water of that temperature is proven to kill quagga mussels, Brumis said.

A warden from the Nevada Department of Wildlife cleared the vessel Sunday afternoon, Brumis said.

Lake Tahoe instituted boat inspections in 2008 to prevent the introduction of invasive species like quagga and zebra mussels into the lake. The locust-like mollusks could wreak havoc on Tahoe's environment and economy, according to the Resource Conservation District.