Zebra Mussels Costing $120 Million in Five Years

Zebra Mussels Costing $120 Million in Five Years

From May, 1996 (Update #27)

Great Lakes facilities using surface water incurred total costs of $120.4 million for zebra mussel monitoring and control between 1989-1994, according to the results of a 1995 survey by Ohio Sea Grant researcher Leroy Hushak. Hushak's findings were summarized in the Aquatic Nuisance Species Update (ANSU), a quarterly publication of the Great Lakes Commission. According to ANSU, the survey was sent to 1,400 Great Lakes facilities. In total, 585 facilities responded, 165 of which said they used well water or purchased water rather than surface water. Of the 420 surface water facilities, 160 said they had zebra mussels at their facilities. One hundred forty reported zebra mussel monitoring and control expenses of $60.2 million. Facilities reporting monitoring and control costs spent an average of $430,000 during 1989-1994, according to the survey. Great Lakes facilities reported average cumulative expenditures of $538,000, compared to nearly $200,000 spent by facilities located on tributaries or waterways not connected to one of the Great Lakes. Survey results provide a benchmark on which to assess zebra mussel costs in the Great Lakes Basin. They also can be used to project costs in other parts of the country where the zebra mussel is spreading, such as the lower Mississippi River Basin and many inland lakes and rivers. For further information, contact Leroy Hushak, phone (614) 292-3548 or email hushak.1@osu.edu, or ANSU editor Kathe Glassner-Shwayder at (313) 665- 9135 or email shwayder@glc.org.

ID: 199605-6.

The Zebra Mussel Update was a 4- to 8-page quarterly national newsletter published by the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute from May 1990 through May 1997. The ZMU documented the spread of the zebra mussel -- an exotic nuisance mussel -- through North America's freshwater environments, especially the Great Lakes, and on efforts to control it.