ZEBRA MUSSELS3: Beating down zebra mussel populations 
in Lake Waco ... ahead on Passport to Texas. 

This is Passport to Texas

In September 2014, when City of Waco employees found 
zebra mussels near a boat ramp in Lake Waco, TPW, the 
City of Waco, and Texas Army Corps of Engineers moved 
quickly to stop this non-native aquatic invasive in its 
tracks.

06 -- The City of Waco ordered up tarps, they hired commercial 
divers, set the plan, and last fall we put 'em all in place.

Brian Van Zee, Inland Fisheries Regional Director, says 
there wasn't time to obtain permits for chemical 
treatments, so divers and staff positioned the eight thick, 
rubber tarps on the lake bottom over the infested area to 
block sunlight and oxygen below.

15 -- We just recently pulled those tarps from lake Waco, and it 
was really looking very good; we could tell by the condition of 
the tarps -- underneath them -- that we had reached anoxic 
conditions. You could smell the hydrogen sulfide smell and 
these black conditions you typically see when you have anoxic 
conditions.

Although divers found two live zebra mussels on rocks 
they brought up, Van Zee is optimistic.

14 -- Maybe we knocked back the number of zebra mussels that 
were in that area, far enough to where they cannot create a 
viable, reproducing population. We don't know if that's the 
case or not. We really won't know probably until this spring or 
summer, actually; maybe even next fall.

Until then, all partners will continue to monitor the lake 
and enforce the clean, drain and dry law for all boaters. 
Learn more on the TPW website.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program supports 
our series.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife ... I'm Cecilia Nasti.

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