With the recent discovery of immature zebra mussels in the Colorado River, the National Park Service is taking extra steps to protect Blue Mesa Reservoir from aquatic invasive species.
The ice has melted, and the Elk Creek, Iola and Lake Fork boat ramps are all open for the season. With the recent federal budget cuts to the Park Service — and likely more on the way — it is still possible boat inspection services may be limited this summer. While the existing crew managing inspections at Curecanti National Recreation Area is almost fully staffed, its funding is still unstable.
With the threat of an infestation always looming, serve-self boat decontamination stations upstream, set for summer installation, will create another layer of protection for Blue Mesa and its tributaries.
“Education and self-service is going to give us a leg up … Our best defense is diligent inspections, which we've been doing since 2009,” said Bill Brueggeman, the aquatic invasive species coordinator and supervisory park ranger for Curecanti and the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. “I'm pretty confident in our ability to keep them out of the reservoir, but I get a little bit nervous about upstream.”
Last summer, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) found zebra mussel veligers in the Colorado River and Government Highline Canal near Grand Junction after routine testing. A veliger is the free-floating, larval stage of the invasive mussel and can only be seen under a microscope. Although tiny in this life stage, if the mussels were to spread, they could wreak havoc in watersheds like the Gunnison Basin.
The discovery put park rangers at Curecanti on high alert. The Park Service is working with Gunnison County to solidify where to place self-serve stations in the valley. The current plan is to install one at a put-in along the Taylor River, a popular spot for rafting and fishing, Wilson’s Landing and the Twin Bridges (near the white water park) directly west of Gunnison. The Park Service will have the ability to move the stations around as needed.
Similar self-serve stations exist along the Green River in Dinosaur National Monument, and at Lake Tahoe in California. Boaters can drive up to the solar-powered stations, read the instructions and clean kayaks, rafts and paddleboards themselves before launching, and after take-out. The stations, free to use, have vacuums and brushes that can be used to clean off mud, old water and debris. They also create an opportunity to educate boaters on aquatic invasive species, Brueggeman said.
“When you walk up to one of these, it's like, ‘Oh my god, what is this thing?” he said. “And so it's an educational panel. It's, a ‘Hey, yeah, I guess I could do this myself.”
In the case someone launched a soaking wet raft with veligers hidden on board into the Taylor River, they would likely arrive in Blue Mesa in less than 24 hours, Brueggeman said. Once they multiply, it could turn into a multi-year, multi-million-dollar maintenance project for the Bureau of Reclamation. The mussels could easily clog the pipes of three of the agency’s hydroelectric plants, which deliver thousands of gallons of irrigation and drinking water to users downstream.
It's a danger that CPW has been closely monitoring for decades around the state. In 2024, the wildlife agency intercepted 110 boats carrying invasive mussels around Colorado. According to CPW, contaminated boats usually arrive from neighboring states, particularly Utah and Arizona due to Colorado’s proximity to Lake Powell. The reservoir has been infested with mussels for years.
“As the spring season approaches, we ask for help from both the boating and water-based recreation communities to combat invasive species in the state,” Robert Walters, CPW’s aquatic nuisance species program manager, said in a press release.
The Park Service is tasked with helping other agencies like CPW keep invasive species, such as zebra and quagga mussels, out of the Blue Mesa and Taylor Park reservoirs, and Lake San Cristobal outside of Lake City. Curecanti, which contains Blue Mesa Reservoir, was estimated to have lost as much as 30% of its staff, and some sources said it was likely that some boat ramps would stay closed this summer.
For now, boat ramp hours at Blue Mesa remain mostly normal with the exception of Iola. This year, in an attempt to coordinate boat ramps across the basin, the Taylor Park, Lake San Cristobal, Elk Creek and Lake Fork boat ramps will all have the same hours, 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. These hours will start on May 23 at Elk Creek in time for Memorial Day weekend, and on May 30 at Lake Fork. Iola remains the outlier. On May 30, it will open seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
“Expect diligent checks, just like always,” Brueggeman said.
(Bella Biondini can be contacted at 970.641.1414 or bella@gunnisontimes.com.)
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