NEWS

Lawmakers brace to battle mussels

Phil Drake
pdrake@greatfallstribune.com
Quagga mussels from Lake Mead that are wrapped around a pipe was in a display case and passed around to lawmakers.

HELENA – Should invasive aquatic mussels become a heavy infestation,, Montana could end up splitting a bill of $500 million with three other states to cope with the problem, lawmakers were told Wednesday.

About 30 officials gathered for a presentation from state officials on efforts to fight off an infestation.

Gov. Steve Bullock issued an executive order in November declaring a statewide natural resource emergency for Montana water bodies after larvae of invasive aquatic mussels at Tiber Reservoir were found and suspected at Canyon Ferry Reservoir and the Milk and Missouri rivers.

The order created an interagency rapid response team consisting of the Montana Invasive Species Advisory Council, Department of Natural Resources and Conservation and state Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

Rep. Mark Noland, R-Bigfork, said Wednesday the mussels could be devastating to his constituents in the Flathead Valley.

“In the Flathead our lives are based on water,” he said, adding it could cost millions to eradicate.

Rep. Mike Cuffe, R-Eureka, who led the meeting, said the price tag for Montana, Washington, Idaho and Oregon could be $500 million should the problem become a heavy infestation.

He said that’s a figure from Pacific Northwest Economic Region, and said he called the meeting because lawmakers, especially in the Flathead Lake area, were frustrated and seeking answers.

The Pacific Northwest Economic Region is a nonprofit organized in 1991 by Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, Washington and the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and the Yukon and Northwest territories.

Among its goals is to coordinate provincial and state policies throughout the region.

Matt Wolcott, area manager with the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, talks Wednesday with lawmakers at the state Capitol.

Lawmakers then tried to determine what federal funding might be available.

Aquatic invasive mussel larvae was discovered in samples at Tiber Reservoir in mid-October. Further testing at Tiber confirmed that mussel larvae were present. Other sampling and testing turned up water samples from Canyon Ferry Reservoir, the Milk River downstream of Nelson Reservoir and the Missouri River upstream of Townsend that were suspect for the mussel larvae, state officials said.

But officials said they are still trying to determine the scope of the problem.

Matt Wolcott, area manager for the DNRC, told members of the state Legislature that Montana is the headwater state for three basins.

“We are the last line of defense for this portion of the world,” he said.

He said that depending on the size of the problem, it could turn into a perpetual program that Montana and its taxpayers would have to do annually, “or until the technology changes.”

“This entire region of the world is looking to us now,” he said.

He told Rep. Randy Brodehl, R-Kalispell, that other states and Canadian provinces have been contacted about possible aid.

Officials said seven bills are now pending in the legislative process to deal with the issue.

Sen. Bob Keenan, R-Bigfork, said he has a bill that would impose a 5 cent per gallon tax on six water bottling plants in the state.

Lawmakers said they would meet again during the session to discuss the issue.

Today’s highlights

Joint Appropriations on General Government: 8 a.m. Room 102

House Judiciary: 8 a.m., Room 137

State administration: 9 a.m. Room 455

House Agriculture: 3 p.m., Room 137

Enough said

“In the Flathead our lives are based on water,” Rep. Mark Noland, R-Bigfork