Parks Canada pulls the curtain on zebra mussel containment effort in Clear Lake

September 9, 2024 Canuck

Parks Canada says it’s removing a curtain deployed in August in an effort to contain zebra mussels to one corner of Clear Lake in Riding Mountain National Park.

Between July 31 and Aug. 6, workers deployed the curtain, an impermeable membrane weighted to the bottom of the lake, from Boat Cove to Wasagaming’s main beach.

It was only in place for two days before it was dislodged by winds.

Last week, Parks Canada said it was working with the contractor to restore the barrier. That’s no longer the plan, the federal agency said in a statement.

“The curtain was damaged and is no longer an effective means of containment and cannot be repaired or replaced this fall. The private contractor that provided and installed the curtain will be responsible for its removal,” Parks Canada said in the unattributed statement.

Parks Canada did not immediately respond to a question about the cost of the containment effort.

The agency said it will continue to monitor Clear Lake for mussel DNA, larvae and adult mussels until ice forms this winter. The monitoring “will help determine whether plans for a potential eradication or control treatment using potash are feasible,” the statement says.

Temporary watercraft bans at Clear Lake remain in place and Boat Cove remains closed to the public, Parks Canada said.

Adult zebra mussels were first found in Clear Lake at Boat Cove in November. Another adult was found in the same area in July.

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