Quagga/Zebra Mussel News

Starting September 2021, the purchase of a Mussel Fee sticker is now a separate transaction from your vessel registration and renewal. Vessel owners may purchase the Mussel Fee Sticker directly from DMV's website at dmv.ca.gov/musselfee or through their local DMV field office. Vessel owners will no longer have the option to buy it via telephone, mail, or third-party vendor. Refer to DBW's Mussel Fee Sticker Insert (PDF) for more information about this process.

Boaters who recreate in fresh water, should be prepared for inspections throughout the state as waterbody owners and managers diligently work to ensure California's waterbodies remain mussel-free. Boaters are encouraged to clean, drain, and dry their boats whenever they leave the water. To learn more about how you can help prevent the spread of quagga and zebra mussels, please visit dbw.parks.ca.gov/StopQZ.

Still have questions about the Mussel Fee Sticker?

See the Mussel Fee Sticker FAQs (PDF) for more information.

For questions specific to quagga/zebra mussel monitoring, or for prevention planning, contact CDFW, at Invasives@wildlife.ca.gov or (866) 440-9530.

On May 20, 2021, Rancho California Water District (RCWD) notified the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) that RCWD discovered adult quagga mussel in the Santa Margarita River, Riverside County, approximately 1,000 feet downstream from the San Diego Pipeline #5 WR-34 Discharge Site. San Diego Pipeline #5 transports water from Lake Skinner, a lake known to have quagga mussels (Dreissena rostriformis bugensis) since August 2007. Water from Lake Skinner is chlorinated, transported via San Diego Pipeline #5, then de-chlorinated at the WR-34 Discharge Site before being discharged into the Santa Margarita River. Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) manages Lake Skinner, the chlorination, and the pipeline, while RCWD manages the dichlorination and discharge into the Santa Margarita River.

Santa Margarita River is west of the CA I-15 Highway in Temecula. Murrieta Creek and Temecula Creek merge to form the Santa Margarita River. The WR-34 Discharge Site is located just below the confluence of Murrieta Creek and Temecula Creek, and flows directly into the Santa Margarita River.

On May 21, CDFW Region 5 and 6 staff conducted surface surveys for presence/absence of mussels in Murrieta Creek working downstream to the Upper Santa Margarita River to the WR-34 discharge site. CDFW laboratory has visually identified the specimens as quagga mussels and confirmed that identification with PCR analysis. CDFW staff will conduct additional surface surveys in Santa Margarita River and at Lake O’Neill.

In December 2014, the US Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) notified CDFW of a positive detection from an October plankton tow sample collected near the same area of the Santa Margarita River. Follow up sampling by USBR, CDFW, and MWD in 2015 confirmed the presence of veligers in multiple samples, and several unpreserved samples were examined and no veligers exhibited movement. In June 2017 CDFW analyzed samples collected by RCWD and no mussels were detected.

For questions that are specific to RCWD, please contact Eva Plajzer, P.E., Assistant General Manager, RCWD, at (951) 296-6910. For questions regarding CDFW's response, please contact Dominique Norton at (916) 203-4499.

The following information is being forwarded on behalf of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service:

The Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force requests proposals to build upon previous assessments and evaluate aspects of the Stop Aquatic Hitchhikers! campaign, Clean Drain Dry Initiative™, and PlayCleanGo campaign to determine what messages and delivery strategies are most effective to achieve desired behavioral changes. It is the intent that the results of this assessment will be used by the ANS Task Force, regional ANS panels, states, and partners to produce a national communications and marketing framework that increases the effectiveness and reach of outreach campaigns and encourages prevention behaviors to stop the spread of invasive species through recreational activities.

Grants.gov Opportunity Number: F21AS00229

Applications should be submitted electronically using the GrantSolutions system. Applications are due by midnight Eastern Time on March 10, 2021.

Questions may be directed to Susan Pasko, US Fish and Wildlife Service at (703) 358-2466 or susan_pasko@fws.gov.