Zebra mussels have shown up in another local lake.
On Tuesday, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources said the zebra mussels, an invasive species of mollusk, have been discovered in Council Bluffs’ Lake Manawa. The DNR reported a homeowner on Lake Manawa found zebra mussels along his shoreline. An investigation by DNR staff found low numbers of the mollusks around the lake.
Staff will carry out more surveys in the area this fall and next summer to monitor their numbers. “The zebra mussels in Lake Manawa probably arrived on or in a boat that had picked up mussels from an infested water body, like the nearby Missouri River,” said Kim Bogenschutz, DNR Aquatic Invasive Species Program coordinator.
In 2018, the species was found in Lake Cunningham, which was drained and has since been allowed to refill naturally in 2019. The lake should be full again by the spring of 2021. They have also been found in Omaha’s Zorninsky Lake.
Appearing like small, D-shaped clams, the mussels can form large infestations that can interfere with aquatic food chains by killing off native mussels, clogging water intakes, increase algae blooms and cover beaches with their dead shells. There is currently no effective treatment to control zebra mussels once they have infested a lake.