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The Okanagan Basin Water Board has sent a letter to the BC Ministry of Environment asking they ensure the COVID-19 pandemic doesn't sideline efforts to protect the province's waters from invasive mussels as summer approaches.
"It is apparent – more than ever – the devastating economic impacts that an invasion of these mussels would have on the Okanagan and the province," board chair Sue McKortoff wrote in a statement.
In the letter, the Water Board urged the provincial government to:
- "Prioritize legislation to require all watercraft owners to remove the drain plug of their watercraft prior to transporting it."
- "Increase inspection station funding back to at least 2017 levels of $4.45 million per year."
- "Renew the public-private funding partnerships which help to fund the inspection system and are set to expire in 2021."
- "Establish a working group to explore options and partnerships to enable legislation which would require all watercraft entering B.C. to report for an inspection station prior to entering provincial waters."
In a study conducted for the OBWB, they calculated it would cost the Okanagan region at least $42 million to manage a mussels infestation.
“Although we may not see the Canada-U.S. border reopening soon due to COVID-19, as summer approaches we will likely see more inter-provincial travel with watercraft,” said McKortoff. “For at least the last three years, the number one source of infested watercraft coming into B.C. has been Ontario.”
In an email, the Ministry of Environment said they are focused on "implementing an effective, multi-pronged, risk-based approach when it comes to preventing the spread of invasive mussels."
They motioned to their Invasive Mussel Defence Program, which has partner jurisdictions as well as the Canadian Border Services Agency watching for the species.
"The effectiveness of the perimeter defence is shown by the fact that the B.C. program received advanced notification for 17 of the 22 mussel-fouled boats during the 2019 season," said an environment ministry spokesperson in an email.
“Through the ongoing 24-hour coverage we receive from CBSA at the Osoyoos border, in 2019 the program was able to implement a roving inspection crew in the Okanagan to address high risk watercraft.
“We will continue to review existing regulations and legislation for how we can further strengthen our prevention efforts through legislative requirements.”
The OBWB said they sent a similar letter to the Federal Minister of Fisheries, Bernadette Jordan, in 2019 but noted they did not receive a response.
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