Fear of mussels closes Boulder Reservoir to boats
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) -- Boulder Reservoir is off-limits to large boats in an effort to stop the spread of an invasive mussel causing environmental damage across the nation's fresh waters.
Boulder Reservoir managers announced it will be off-limits to large boats -- that is, any boat big enough to require a trailer -- until at least April 3. Officials say the quarantine will keep large boats out of the water, killing any trouble-making zebra mussels clinging to their undersides.
The zebra mussel, native to Russia, hitches a ride on ship ballast and causes environmental damage where it lands. The species has been in the Great Lakes region since the 1980s, and the black-and-brown mussels have now been found from Maryland to Arizona. The first zebra mussels were first found in Colorado last year in Lake Pueblo.
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