Earlier this month, I wrote about the risk aquatic invasive mussels pose to Lake Mead and other Nevada waterways. 

Invasive mussels aren’t your typical dinner-table conversation topic, but they are front and center for many Nevada water managers. Readers who also had opinions on the diminutive creatures emailed me with comments ranging from someone questioning whether they could serve as a food source or fertilizer to someone who disagreed with the idea that the mussels could live in Lake Tahoe. 

“University biologists have determined that any type of muscle [sic] cannot live in Lake Tahoe due to the fact that muscles [sic] are filter feeders, and there is not enough food in the water at Lake Tahoe for any muscle [sic] to survive. Studies have proven this yet many useless boat inspection stations exist to this day wasting millions of dollars,” one reader wrote. “I have spoken to the various water agencies in the area and they all acknowledge that that fact is true. Yet they continue to waste money on inspection stations, and various other programs anyway.”

This email prompted my curiosity. I did some reading to discover what makes a lake or river suitable for quagga mussel establishment. (Turns out, calcium is extremely important.) 

I also discovered that, yes, various people have attempted to debunk the idea that invasive mussels, mudsnails and other species could survive in Lake Tahoe’s water.

One who hasn't is UNR limnologist and renowned lake expert Sudeep Chandra, who I spoke with for my original invasive mussel story. Over the years, he has more than once demonstrated in laboratory tests that quagga mussels, as well as other aquatic invasive species, could survive in Lake Tahoe’s water. A 2013 story published in Moonshine Ink, however, echoed some of the doubtful sentiments by the reader who emailed about my story. 

That story described Chandra’s studies (accurately) as “limited” and “short-term” — one study by Chandra looking at the ability of New Zealand mudsnails to survive in Lake Tahoe lasted just two weeks.

Opponents argued that Chandra’s short studies weren’t long enough to fully know if they could survive in the lake; the study’s authors said that despite being brief, the study “led to the establishment of new guidelines for boat permitting and inspection at Lake Tahoe to proactively reduce the likelihood of nuisance aquatic species introductions.”

Whether it was or wasn’t long enough of a study became a moot point a decade later. In 2023, New Zealand mudsnails were positively identified in Lake Tahoe. 

Boat inspections aren't just about possible mussel invasions. They are about the prevention of all aquatic invasive species, including plants and snails, Chandra told me in an email, adding that people who argue for the removal of boat inspection stations to save taxpayer money are often missing the larger picture.

(When the Town of Truckee was considering implementing boat inspections in 2013, longtime Donner Lake resident Steve Urie researched the issue and reported to town lawmakers that “it is illogical and impractical to implement a needless fee-based program that inconveniences residents and visitors alike.”) 

Since 2008, more than 123,000 watercraft have been inspected before entering Lake Tahoe. The basin’s watercraft inspection program costs around $2.4 million per year, with boater fees covering about one-third of that and the rest funded by various grants and state and federal funds. 

This year, inspectors found 72 boats with aquatic invasive species on board — 14 of which contained invasive mussels.

A 2009 estimate by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers predicted that if quagga mussels were ever established in Lake Tahoe, it would cause losses of $22 million per year. 

“We know that preventing invasive species from entering an ecosystem can save millions of dollars down the road,” Chandra wrote to me. 

(And, to circle back to the other reader’s question of whether the mussels are edible — as filter feeders, they pull in contaminants and toxins that can be passed up the food chain. So sorry, no free seafood buffet.) 

In the weeds: 

Bad news, bears — Late spring frosts are more harmful than droughts to natural food sources for black bears in western Nevada, according to researchers at UNR. 

Changing spring temperatures wipe out natural food sources such as berries, acorns and pine nuts, forcing them to seek sustenance from residential areas and leading to increased bear mortality. It’s twice as likely for officials to need to kill a bear for public safety purposes in a year with a late frost. 

Researchers were originally looking at the effects of snowpack and drought on bear behavior and mortality before realizing spring temperature swings were a bigger issue. In 2022, a year with a late frost date, the number of bear complaints in the researchers’ study area ballooned from about 500 to about 1,500. 

Bears disappeared from the area in the early 1900s but began coming back in the 1980s. There are now some 500 bears in the area.

Lights, cave, action — Great Basin National Park’s Lehman Caves closed Oct. 20 for a six-month-long renovation project to replace the cave system’s decades-old lighting system. During the closure, 5 miles of obsolete wiring, some dating back to 1941, will be replaced. Emergency phones will also be installed. 

More than a half mile of Lehman Caves’ passages are lighted for public tours, but last fall, a significant section of lights failed, forcing the closure of about one-quarter mile of the cave. Replacement parts for the obsolete system were not available, leaving park staff unable to make repairs. 

The project is expected to be completed in spring 2026.

Running on empty — A new study from The Nature Conservancy and Desert Research Institute shows that nearly 40 percent of wells analyzed across the state are showing significantly declining water levels. Published in Hydrological Processes, the study warns of mounting risks to springs, wetlands and riparian habitats that sustain rare plants and wildlife. The report wasn’t all doom and gloom though — the scientists offered up 10 suggestions to address the challenges to groundwater-dependent ecosystems.  

Safety first — The Nevada Division of Industrial Relations’ Occupational Safety and Health Administration — Nevada OSHA — has received nearly 20 percent fewer complaints through the first 10 months of the year than it did during the same time last year, receiving around 400 instead of nearly 500. Most complaints came from employees within food services, retail and transportation and warehouse industries. 

Since the end of April, 13 citations have been issued to businesses for failing to follow heat illness regulations. 

Fires in focus — More than 50 new wildfire detection cameras will be installed throughout Nevada following NV Energy’s approval for installation from state energy regulators. The cameras will be operated by UNR’s ALERTWildfire network.

The installation will triple the capacity of ALERTWildfire cameras supported by NV Energy, which has partnered with ALERTWildfire for the past seven years. The cameras will be in place by the end of 2026.

Here’s what else I’m reading (and listening to) this week: 

WyoFile: Public land users can still “corner cross” across much of the West after Supreme Court rejects appeal

A cause for concern for many of us! NPR explains why a changing climate may mean less chocolate in the future

From Utility Dive: FERC rejects NV Energy’s plan to allow utilities to exit penalty-free from interconnection study

A heartbreaking story from the San Francisco Chronicle: ‘All the trees are dead’: An ancient California forest has been wiped out

He had big ambitions for this Southern Nevada town. Then the river ran dry, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal 

NV Energy could face $1 million fine for trying to charge customers for utility's own negligence, KTNV reports 

From the Nevada Current: Tahoe agency OKs removal of hundreds of trees to make room for ‘glamping’ 

From the Los Angeles Times: California cracks down on water theft but spares data centers from disclosing how much they use

As EPA stalls, states are left to handle solar panel waste. From Inside Climate News 

A closer look: