Water board says new invasive mussel cost estimate falls short

The Okanagan Basin Water Board (OBWB) says a recent report by the B.C. government on the economic impact of zebra and quagga mussels in provincial waterways, is “deeply troubling” and fails to consider all of the impacts of an infestation.

The government report, released in May 2023, estimates the mussels would cost the province between $64 and $129 million annually.

• $33.7 – $92.5 million in mitigation costs for water-related infrastructure; including $17.1 – $23.3 million for hydro infrastructure; $8.0
• $49.7 million for water supply infrastructure for municipal, domestic and aquaculture; and $2.5 – $5.3 million for agricultural irrigation and golf courses
• $3.7 – $8.1 million in additional annual maintenance to boats and marinas
• $2.5 – $12.6 million in lost profits and provincial revenues from losses in water-based nonresident tourism; and
• $30.2 million annualized loss in residential property values and property taxes due to reduced water quality and lost shoreline amenity values.

The OBWB said while they appreciate the level of detail in the report, the study does not, and probably could not, calculate “the terrible impacts these mussels would cause to our natural systems,” in a letter to Water, Land and Resource Stewardship Minister Nathan Cullen and Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy George Heyman.

“While the board had been waiting to see this updated report for a few years and had anticipated bad news, the research results were deeply troubling,” the letter reads, noting the absence of costs to the local fishery and quality of life.

In speaking to the letter, OBWB executive director Anna Warwick Sears said the costs of an infestation are appalling on two levels.

“The first is the gross costs which will make us all poorer. But more importantly, it makes you think about all we value that can’t be qualified. I love the beaches and the clean water, and I don’t want to lose them,” Warwick Sears said.

Invasive mussel-sniffing dog (OBWB-OKWaterWise photo)

Working within its mandate, the water board first sounded the alarm regarding mussels in 2012, and a year later, it launched the “Don’t Move A Mussel” campaign to raise awareness.

In 2015, the B.C. government started its mussel inspection program and each year since has intercepted mussel-fouled watercraft on their way into B.C.

“The only way a mussel invasion will be prevented is through vigilant action by your ministries. The OBWB has provided many specific calls to action in the past. We are grateful for those you have acted upon, and we encourage you to go further and make this a top priority for both your ministries,” the OBWB said in its letter.

To read the province’s report Potential Economic Impact of Zebra and Quagga Mussels in B.C., click here.