SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Divers are currently assessing the status of New Zealand mudsnail populations once again after almost one year from their initial discovery in Lake Tahoe. As the first invasive species discovered since before 2008, the finding last September was quite alarming when divers on a routine invasive weed survey came across the small invaders offshore near South Lake Tahoe.
With Lake Tahoe’s world class motorized watercraft inspection program launched in 2008—inspecting over 100,000 boats, performing 55,000 decontaminations and intercepting all motorized watercraft before they hit the lake—the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and partners have been scratching their heads on how exactly the new invader got here.
Although they may never know for sure, one clue to the mystery is where divers found the snails. “…not in a place you would normally find them,” TRPA Aquatic Invasive Species Program Manager, Dennis Zabaglo, says, “They’re called mudsnails for a reason.”