The Iowa Department of Natural Resources confirms zebra mussels have been found in Storm Lake.
The DNR collects water samples and deploys settlement samplers in lakes across the state each summer to monitor for the invasive zebra mussel. Young zebra mussels were found in an August water sample, and further investigation discovered juvenile and adult zebra mussels in several locations around the lake.
DNR staff will conduct additional monitoring at Storm Lake this fall and next summer to determine the abundance and distribution of zebra mussels. The DNR’s Aquatic Invasive Species Program Coordinator, Kim Bogenschutz, says the zebra mussels in Storm Lake probably arrived on or in a boat that had picked up the mussels from an infested water body, like the Spirit/Okoboji chain of lakes or the Missouri River.
(By Ryan Thompson, KAYL, Storm Lake)