Invasive Mussels Could Contaminate SoCal Water Supply

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published March 20, 2007 at 1:30 PM PDT

This story was published more than 17 years ago.

Authorities have found hundreds of tiny invasive mussels in the aqueduct that brings water to San Diego and millions of Southern Californians. KPBS reporter Ed Joyce says water officials have plans to

Authorities have found hundreds of tiny invasive mussels in the aqueduct that brings water to San Diego and millions of Southern Californians. KPBS reporter Ed Joyce says water officials have plans to control the pest before it endangers the water supply.

Crews inspecting the aqueduct that brings Colorado River water to Southern California have found almost 800 quagga mussels, which are native to Ukraine. Bob Muir is with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

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Muir : Although they have infested the aqueduct system, we believe we have a very good chance at controlling them.

Muir says the mussels were found scattered throughout the system. He says the district will manage the thumbnail-sized mollusks so they don't clog the pipes that carry water to millions of users.

Muir : It's about controlling the spread of this mussel -- keeping their numbers down so you don't have impacts to your delivery system that brings water in from the Colorado River.

Muir says copper sulfate and chlorine will be used to control the invasive species. The mussels have created a billion-dollar problem in the Great Lakes area by clogging water pipelines and altering ecosystems. Muir says the mussels are still more sparsely distributed here than in the Great Lakes region. Ed Joyce, KPBS News.

Ed Joyce

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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