Monitoring for Invasive Mussels in Alberta’s Irrigation Infrastructure: 2017 Report

Author: Alberta Agriculture and Forestry Water Quality Section
Year: 2017
Digital Object Identifier:

Type: Report
Topic: Monitoring/ Sampling

 

 

This document described AIS monitoring efforts within the province, from 2013 until 2017. Alberta Environment and Parks conducts annual water quality lake monitoring, which includes sampling for invasive mussel veligers –– the microscopic mussel larvae. However, not all irrigation reservoirs are sampled by EP in a given year, as they rotate on an annual basis. Alberta Agriculture and Forestry’s (AF’s) Water Quality Section, in partnership with EP and the irrigation districts, have been conducting annual veliger monitoring at high-risk irrigation reservoirs since 2013. In addition, irrigation district staff have monitored for settled juvenile and adult mussels by deploying and checking artificial substrates in the reservoirs, and performing annual infrastructure inspections at intakes and along canals during water drawdown at the end of the growing season.

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