Nearly 300,000 boats inspected for quagga mussels during 2024 boating season

Salt Lake City — The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and other partnering agencies worked hard inspecting and decontaminating boats across the state this year to prevent the spread of invasive quagga mussels in Utah.

Lake Powell is currently the only Utah waterbody infested with invasive quagga mussels. Statewide, aquatic invasive species technicians with the DWR, Utah State Parks, Arizona Game and Fish Department and the National Park Service have inspected 295,894 boats and performed 6,383 decontaminations since Jan. 1. Of those total numbers, 58,594 of the boat inspections and 1,200 of the decontaminations took place at stations in the Lake Powell area.

This was an increase from the 268,630 boats inspected statewide last year, 6,625 of which were decontaminated.

The five dip tanks in Utah — located at the Stateline Ramp and Bullfrog marinas at Lake Powell, Utah Lake State Park, Sand Hollow State Park and Willard Bay State Park — performed 1,791 of the total boat decontaminations. The Utah Lake State Park dip tank — installed in May 2023 — performed the bulk of the decontaminations this year, with 825.

"The dip tanks continue to be invaluable in improving efficiency for our decontaminations of complex boats," DWR Sgt. Krystal Tucker said. "To help in these efforts, we have plans to install an additional dip tank at the Flaming Gorge Lucerne Valley Marina in the future. These innovative resources have been instrumental in the fight against quagga mussels in Utah."

This year, DWR conservation officers issued 1,239 citations and warning citations for violations of Utah laws established to prevent the spread of invasive mussels, an increase from the 455 violations detected in 2023.

The majority of the violations were due to:

• Those with any watercraft failing to take the mandatory education course.
• Those with motorized boats failing to pay the required vessel-enrollment fee.
• Boaters and those with other watercraft (like waverunners, paddleboards and kayaks) failing to stop at mandatory inspection stations throughout the state.
• Boaters not removing drain plugs during transport.

"Overall, our boaters have been very compliant in helping to ensure that aquatic invasive species don't spread in Utah," Tucker said. "We really appreciate everyone's efforts. And while the boating season is winding down for the year, make sure to plan ahead for next year and be sure to take the mandatory education course, pay the required fees, and display the necessary decals on your watercraft, so you can be ready for another great boating season next year."

Boaters should also remember that in the summer, the required dry time is seven days, during the fall it is 18 days, and it is 30 days during the winter. Wakeboard boats are defined as complex boats, which always require a 30-day dry time, unless they are properly decontaminated.

"During the winter season, there aren't many available watercraft inspection staff at the stations across the state," Tucker said. "So we ask boaters going to Lake Powell — or to neighboring states' mussel-infested waterbodies — to please either have their watercraft decontaminated at that location before leaving, or to call us ahead of time if they are going to need a decontamination before their next launch."

Visit the STD of the Sea website for further information regarding boater requirements.

Why quagga mussels are bad

• They plug water lines, even lines that are large in diameter.
• If they get into water delivery systems in Utah, it will cost millions of dollars annually to remove them and keep the pipes free, which can result in higher utility bills.
• They remove plankton from the water, which hurts fish species in Utah.
• Mussels get into your boat's engine cooling system. Once they do, they’ll foul the system and damage the engine.
• When mussels die in large numbers, they stink and the sharp shells of dead mussels also cut your feet as you walk along the beaches.