Endangered pallid sturgeon, paddlefish, catfish and most other aquatic organisms cope with lethal levels of mercury throughout the South Dakota portion of the Missouri River so as those species are extirpated or even go extinct zebra mussels have colonized most of the system. Lewis and Clark Lake is at least thirty percent full of toxic sediment but that impoundment and Lake Sharpe can’t spend money fast enough to reverse the infestation of the imported bivalves in hydroelectric equipment and water courses.
Photo: Caleb Gilkerson.
Diving ducks like the Canvasback, Redhead, Bufflehead, Lesser Scaup and the Common Goldeneye feed on the invasive mussels that have been plaguing the mainstem dams in the Missouri River since at least 2004 but they're part of over a hundred species at risk to the South Dakota Republican Party. To prop up the pheasant industry the state's Republican governor put bounties on raccoons and skunks also known to feed on the prolific invaders.
“What we do know right now is we cannot stop the spread of zebra mussels,” Tom Kirschenmann said. Zebra mussels have been increasingly found in South Dakota in the past few years, from Pactola Reservoir in the southwest; to the lower two-thirds of the Missouri River system in the central and southeast regions; to a variety of northeastern lakes including Kampeska, Cochrane, Pickerel, Blue Dog and most recently Enemy Swim. [No way to remove zebra mussels: SDGFP official]The death of the Missouri River ecosystem in South Dakota began with the European invasion, was accelerated by the Homestake Mining Company and sealed with the construction of the mainstem dams. Today, the Corps has cancelled Spring Pulses on the Missouri River not because of low flows but because the silt is so poisonous it would kill the very species it says it's trying to preserve.
Nearly a century of residue from Black Hills Mining District affects millions of cubic yards of riparian habitat all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. Although the Oahe Dam was completed in 1962 sequestering most of the silt the soils of the Belle Fourche and Cheyenne Rivers are inculcated with arsenic at levels that have killed cattle.
Zebra mussels are showing up in Montana and Colorado, too.
A day after a bill to help mitigate zebra mussel spread in South Dakota was killed, a resolution is approved supporting a summer study on slowing zebra mussel spread. Senate Concurrent Resolution 602 would carry no legal authority if passed. https://t.co/A2xxLXoyq8
— KXLG Radio (@MyKXLG) March 1, 2022
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