Stopping the Invasion

Canine unit to come to Cold Lake boat inspection station Thursday & Friday.

Just outside of Cold Lake, on Highway 55 , near Cherry Grove, there is a boat inspection station that’s purpose is to ensure no invasive species enter the province; particularly zebra mussels. Lead Inspector with Environment & Parks, Cindy Sawchuk, explains that Alberta is the only province not to have these damaging species in its waters and it is vital that the waters remain uninfected.

“Think of Cold Lake, how many residents in your city, rely on the recreational aspect of Cold Lake?” To aid in ensuring the mussels do not enter the province, the check stops are set up at every major highway coming into the province. On Thursday and Friday, the Cold Lake check stop will host two canines that are trained in sniffing out invasive species. It is against the law to drive through one of these inspection stations, if a person is manning the station. Cold Lake has a permanent station set up near the Saskatchewan-Alberta border, as many boaters enjoy both provinces’ waters.

Sawchuk explains the real danger in these mussels is the amount of damage they can do, in a very short period of time, to a city’s water infrastructure. “In Ontario, they spend $90 million a year, just in maintenance; because they have invasive mussels. That’s not just to get rid of them, one shot, that’s every year.” Sawchuk has seen worse infrastructure damage, such as in Texas where one water treatment plants was invested with mussels and they had to buy a $300 million extension to the facility, because it was continuously clogging up. “That cost goes to the end user, the tax payer.”

“We have thousands kilometres of buried pipe and canal in the southern parts of the province, if these were to become invested with these mussels, the cost would become enormous.” Sawchuk says the province can’t even predict how much it’ll cost if the water bodies get infected, “we say $70 million, but it could be much more than that.”

Lake Winnipeg is a great example of how fast the mussels spread, Sawchuk explains, “the year before there wasn’t a single shell on the beach, by the next season it was up to my calf. The entire beach was destroyed.”

The canine unit is brought in to help find smaller traces of the invasive mussels. The dogs, rescued from animal shelters and trained by Environment & Parks, can sniff out even the smallest traces. This saves in time and man power, “we have three dogs in our province, which we have trained to help us spread this conservation message and help us search the boats.”

What to do if You’ve Been Boating in other Provinces or the States?

Call 1-855-336-2628 Clean – Drain – Dry every time! 

“That’s the only way we’ll eliminate this risk. Boats are the number one vector of these kinds of species. Mussels can live up to 30 days without water,” Sawchuk says a mussel can attach to an anchor in Lake Winnipeg, you may not even see them, “those mussels can live for 30 days and it doesn’t take 30 days to drive from Lake Winnipeg to Cold Lake. So you put that anchor down and that could be an introduction.”

If you have more questions on invasive mussels or have been to another province/America and would like to have your water craft inspected, visit Cindy Sawchuk at the Cold Lake inspection station on Highway 55 just outside of Cherry Grove.