One of the state’s best investigators was on the hunt for golden mussels — a dangerous new invader in California’s waters, with a reputation for destruction.Wearing a collar and a tongue-lolling grin, Allee, a Belgian Malinois, sniffed along the glittering hull of a bass boat at an inspection station in Butte County.The dog’s handler, California Department of Fish and Wildlife Warden Mark Rose, pointed at the outboard motor and the dog delicately nosed the propellers. She stretched up on her hind legs to get a good whiff of the port side before Rose led her away. She yawned. Nothing here.The dog was searching for any hint of the thimble-sized mussels hidden in the nooks and crannies of boats headed to Lake Oroville, the state’s second-largest reservoir, or two smaller reservoirs nearby. Her human counterparts at the Department of Water Resources’ inspection station combed the boat’s interior for standing water that could harbor larvae.Mandatory boat inspections are among the few weapons in California’s arsenal for protecting its thousands of lakes and reservoirs from the invasion. The mussels’ prolific growth and voracious appetites can upend entire ecosystems, encrust underwater surfaces, choke off water supplies and damage dams and power plants.“We have been on high alert,” said Tanya Veldhuizen, special projects section manager in the California Department of Water Resources’ environmental assessment branch, which operates the state’s water delivery system. “It’s not just on our doorstep, it’s in our house.”Keep Reading
