Hundreds of invasive species that swim, crawl, float, fly or multiply cost the nation billions every year in damages and control efforts.
Officials are constantly challenged to find new ways to address these non-native plants, pests and other species that arrive and thrive. Among the more costly invaders in freshwater lakes and waterways are a group of voracious mussels that first appeared in the U.S. more than 30 years ago.
Zebra mussels and quagga mussels can wreak havoc on waterways, fouling pipes and other submerged equipment at dams, hydropower plants, docks and harbors. Spending on efforts to repair damages and control or eradicate the mussels is estimated at $1 billion a year.
The mussels are moved from place to place in the ballast water of vessels, primarily through recreational boats, which also spread other aquatic pests and plants, such as hydrilla and water hyacinths, according to federal documents.
Wanting to step up their efforts to battle an array of aquatic invaders, federal agencies have launched a $550,000 prize challenge to solicit help in eliminating the risk of the mussels spreading. The Bureau of Reclamation under the Department of the Interior is coordinating the challenge with NASA.
They hope to inspire innovative solutions to block the mussels and other aquatic invasives from entering or leaving a boat’s ballast, so they aren’t being transferred from one water body to another. “Just some way to inactivate them,” said Christine VanZomeren, prize competition program administrator.
“We’re really focused on implementation,” VanZomeren said. “We’re looking for physical prototypes that can reduce the spread of invasive, aquatic species.”
“While existing watercraft inspection and decontamination programs are effective, they are time- and labor-intensive, creating challenges during peak boating seasons,” according to an agency news release.
How do the mussels work?
Zebra mussels were the first to arrive in 1988 and are now found in 32 states. Quagga mussels arrived just a few years later and are now found in 19 states. A third species, the golden mussel, was detected in California in 2024 and is expected to be equally troublesome.
“The mussels can attach to pretty much any hard surface,” then grow and multiply, said biologist Sherri Pucherelli, who works at the bureau’s technical services center, and conducts research related to aquatic invasives.
They attach themselves by root-like protein threads to submerged equipment and infrastructure at dams, flood gates, marinas and other waterfront industry facilities. That causes “a lot of increased maintenance,” Pucherelli said. They can damage boat engines and block pipes and cooling water intakes at hydropower plants, allowing generators to overheat.
Adding to the difficulty, the mussels’ offspring are microscopic and can travel in water sight unseen.
The mussels also can attach themselves to native mussels, which can be a fatal attraction for the natives, and to turtles. Pucherelli said they affect entire ecosystems in lakes, with impacts that cascade across the entire food web. Filter feeders, they can consume so much plankton that they starve other native species. When they die, their empty shells clutter beaches and cause additional obstructions to filters and equipment when they wind up downstream.
Government agencies have employed an array of methods to try to control the spread of the mussels, in the Great Lakes and elsewhere. Many states require boat inspections and decontaminations, but that can lead to local backups and delays during busy summer boating seasons.
In some cases, divers go in to remove them one by one. In a few isolated locations, when aggressive actions were taken shortly after the mussels were detected, fledgling populations were eradicated. That worked in Lake Waco in Texas, for example, and along a rocky reef at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Michigan. In Utah, a dip tank method has been used to clean boats with hot water.
Feds hope to reward innovation for battling invasives
“Preventing the spread of aquatic invasive species remains one of the most urgent natural resource challenges facing the western United States,” says a website devoted to the prize challenge.
With the prize program, federal officials are seeking “novel solutions” that would either kill the mussels and larvae or exclude them, but not generate hazardous waste, cause damages to vessels or create safety risks. The program is based on previous competitions that successfully implemented solutions for other challenges, such as the development and implementation of a way to speed up a federal computer model, VanZomeren said.
The first phase of the mussel challenge is written proposals to describe a novel, non-harmful method for dealing with the mussels and boat inspections. The challenge is coordinated by a tournament lab at NASA’s Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation, which assists with crowdsourcing across the federal government.
Up to six winning papers will receive up to $25,000 each. Then, in a “Shark Tank” style event, participants will pitch their ideas to a panel of professionals. Up to three $50,000 prizes will then be awarded for prototype development.
The final competition will award up to three prizes, including $125,000 for the winning concept. Concept papers for the challenge, which opened in late February, are due May 29, 2026.
What can you do to prevent the spread of mussels and other aquatic invaders?
Federal and state agencies have urged boaters to take the following steps:
– Before entering the water, clean all plants, animals, sand and mud from the boat, trailer, props and anchor. Wash your boat off with warm, soapy water when you leave the water.
– Drain all water from your boat, including the motor, bilge, live-well, and other compartments before you arrive. Leave the bilge plug out during transport (in some states, this is required by law).
– Don’t take water from live wells and bait buckets to any other water body. Empty on land and dispose of leftover bait in the trash.
– Allow everything to dry for at least five days or wipe down with a towel before reuse
Dinah Voyles Pulver covers climate change, wildlife and the environment for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] or @dinahvp on Bluesky or X or dinahvp.77 on Signal.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Invasive mussels wreak havoc across US. Feds are desperate for a fix.
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