Marcella Corona

mcorona@rgj.com

A new act will add quagga mussels to the national list of invasive species, Nevada officials said in a news release from U.S. Sen. Dean Heller's office Monday.

The Protecting Lakes against Quaggas Act would speed up the process for listing the mussels as an invasive species, something that would normally take many years. The bill also allows for prevention and control measures to begin.

"The quagga mussel is a threat to many of our greatest national treasures, including Lake Tahoe and Lake Mead," Heller said in the news release. "By infiltrating new habitats and ecosystems and then multiplying at an alarming rate, quagga mussels quickly become nuisances and are extremely difficult to remove."

"By passing the PLAQ Act and listing the quagga mussel as an invasive species, Congress can protect these natural resources and accomplish in just a short time what would otherwise take many years," Heller said. "I would also like to thank Congressman Joe Heck for his leadership on this issue by introducing the companion bill in the House of Representatives."

The quagga mussel first showed up in southern Nevada's Lake Mead in 2007 and has overrun the lake, numbering in the trillions.

Quagga and zebra mussels clog up water intakes, cover boats and docks and litter beaches with sharp shells that can damage boats and native wildlife.

It's considered one of the biggest threats to Lake Tahoe, Lake Mead, Lahontan Reservoir, Rye Patch Reservoir, along with many other western lakes and reservoirs, officials said in the news release.

Prevention and control for the mussels cost more than any other aquatic species to invade the Unites States. An estimated $5 billion has been spent on prevention and control since their arrival to the Great Lakes in the late 1980s, officials said.

Only the zebra mussel is currently listed as an invasive species.

This legislation is supported by many local stakeholders including:

• The Nevada Department of Wildlife

• Tahoe Regional Planning Authority (TRPA)

• Colorado River Energy Distributors Association (CREDA)

• Western Governors Association

• Northwest Power and Conservation Council

• National Wildlife Federation

• Irrigation & Electrical Districts' Association of Arizona

• National Environmental Coalition on Invasive Species.