Click the link to read the article on the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel website (Dan West). Here’s an excerpt:

July 26, 2024

Colorado Parks and Wildlife isn’t wasting any time since the detection of zebra mussel veligers (larva stage) in the Colorado River and Government Highline Canal in Mesa County in getting the word out to boaters to clean, drain and dry their boats after being in the river. A mobile waterless boat cleaning station made by the company CD3 is now parked in Palisade’s Riverbend Park near Harky’s Launch Boat Ramp. CPW also has a stationary cleaning station at the Loma Boat Ramp.

“We started rolling out our education plan for zebra mussels and this is on top of all the sampling and things we’re doing as well,” said Northwest Region Public Information Officer Rachael Gonzales. “We are, throughout the Grand Valley, taking out our CD3, which is our waterless (boat cleaning station).”

The waterless cleaning stations have compressed air and a vacuum to help people clean smaller watercraft like kayaks and paddleboards, Gonzales said. There is a more elaborate system at Highline Lake State Park that uses hot water, but is intended for larger craft with motors. This year, Highline Lake is only allowing non-motorized craft. CPW shut down Highline to boaters after the decision was made to drain down the lake to attempt to eradicate its mussels infestation. Previous efforts using chemicals were unsuccessful after mussels were first discovered in Highline Lake in the fall of 2022. In addition to the new watercraft cleaning stations, Gonzales said CPW will have people out around the valley talking one-on-one with boaters and people using the river to explain the importance of cleaning everything from boats to fishing gear that go into the Colorado River.