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By Dave Lueneberg
Canals, reservoirs could become clogged

Potential for invasive species to ‘mussel’ in on agri-community

Apr 28, 2026 | 1:37 PM

As the Province ramps up spring and summertime watercraft inspections for invasive mussels, comes an appeal from the agriculture community to not only help protect lakes and rivers, but irrigation systems, as well.

Alberta Irrigation Districts Association vice-chair Richard Phillips, in a news conference Tuesday with Environment Minister Grant Hunter and the Alberta Invasive Species Council, warned of its impact to the farmers and ranchers.

“The fundamental problem with these mussels is they attach themselves to any hard surfaces. They rapidly accumulate and can form layers upon layers to the point where they can begin clogging things,” Phillips cautioned.

“The farmers’ intakes off our canals and reservoirs could easily become clogged by mussels. (The) pipelines themselves could begin to be clogged by mussels, reducing the flow of capacity. It could make irrigation very, very challenging,” he added.

“There are methods of killing mussels but very few available in Canada…very expensive, very difficult to even implement. So, again, prevention of mussel introduction is infinitely better than trying to deal with them once they get here because they will make irrigation far, far more difficult than it is now, if they ever get here.”

During the news conference, the environment minister pointed out that Alberta’s fines are the highest in North America – $4,200 for failing to stop at an open inspection station and $600 for failing to remove a drain plug when transporting a watercraft within Alberta.

Last year, just under 22,000 boats were inspected across the province, almost triple from 2024’s nearly 8,500.

Still worrisome, however, for the minister, was the fact that thirteen water craft were found carrying invasive mussels at inspection stations in 2025 in southern and eastern Alberta which, he emphasized, could have cost the Province ‘into the millions’ to fix had they entered the eco-system.

by Dave Lueneberg