More boats in Colorado than ever before were required to decontaminate due to infestations of destructive mussels in 2020.

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Despite a record number of boats requiring decontamination, all of Colorado’s lakes and water reservoirs are free of such species due to Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s inspection program that intends to keep out invasive species. 

“[CPW] continues to meet the challenge of protecting the state’s waters and infrastructure from aquatic nuisance species,” said Robert Walters, CPW Aquatic Nuisance Species prevention program manager.

“But as boating season approaches we continue to ask for help from boat owners in maintaining our mussel-free status.”

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In 2008, CPW coordinated the ANS program efforts, and last registered a positive test at the Green Mountain Reservoir in Summit County in 2017, officials said. 

Since its implementation, there has been continuous monitoring and testing in all of Colorado’s waterways, which has resulted in “three years of subsequent water testing [that] were negative for mussel species.”

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The presence of such invasive species such as mussel is destructive to aquatic habitats and can seriously damage reservoir infrastructure and cause problems to boats, CPW officials said. 

Throughout 2020, ANS inspectors conducted 647,325 inspections, resulting in 24,771 — 34% higher than 2019 — boats that were suspected of carrying mussels or other invasive species to be decontaminated. 

Although inspections skyrocketed in 2020, officials say this has to do with the large number of people seeking the outdoors as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Despite the large number of boats requiring decontamination, only 100 were found to contain invasive mussels in 2020, which is up 14 from 2019 and 84 from 2017, CPW officials said. 

Officials claim that the majority of boats requiring decontamination are brought into the state from others including Arizona, Utah, Kansas and Nebraska that have infested waters. 

Since CPW’s ANS program began in 2008, over 5.6 million boats have been inspected and 144,000 have been decontaminated. CPW will continue its fight to keep Colorado’s water free of invasive species.

“Mussels aren’t going away,” said Walters. “However, by continuing our preventative watercraft inspection program we can keep Colorado’s waters free of invasive mussels.”

Officials are encouraging boat owners to “clean, drain and dry” their boats after each use and inspect trailers and hard to reach spots for evidence of mussels. 

Those who have used their boats in other states are expected to tell a boat inspector. 

For additional information regarding CPW’s ANS program head to cpw.state.co.us/aboutus/Pages/ISP-ANS.aspx or read the Boater’s Guide to ANS Inspections.