California has one of the largest water delivery system in the world! In my opinion the folks running this system are crazy scared right now about the fiscal impact of the mussels on this system and don't have a clue what to do about it yet.
I don't think that there is any concern over waterways in the state that are not connected to this system except maybe that mussels may spread to the system from them.

Water is huge money in CA. There are many billions at stake here for the agencies that transport and deliver the water to where ever it goes.


There are two ways of going about finding a solution.
1. Try to stop the invasion before it spreads.
2. Get things in order now to deal with the inevitable invasion.

#1 is how govt agencies are trying to solve the problem today. Knee jerk reactions like closing lakes, banning boats, etc. is probably not going to halt the spread especially if migratory waterfowl can transport the larvae like I have read. If this is the case then the spread of mussels is inevitable.

#2 is most likely where we will end up so how to deal with the problem.

I wouldn't have a clue where to start with this but I do have some questions that might point towards a possible solution.

I know PGE runs some power plants on the coast that use salt water for their cooling. So how do they deal with intrusive mussels, barnacles, etc in their cooling water intakes?

How are agencies in the great lakes area dealing with it?

How do desalination plants deal with the problems of intrusion in their salt water intakes?

Waste treatment plants use high intensity UV light to treat water and kill bacteria. Could this have an impact on the mussels?
What about chlorine treatments?

Natural predators have been mentioned already and are another possible solution providing that agency officials have done their homework and don't introduce another problem.

I don't think that there will be any one answer to a solution but a combination of tactics to keep things in control.

MT