State Considers Expanding Zebra Mussel Measures

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A state commission is considering adding two Central Texas counties to the list of 17 where boaters are required to help keep invasive zebra mussels from spreading.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission is to vote Thursday on adding Bell and Coryell counties. In the listed counties, boaters are required to clean, dry and drain watercraft after they've been in waters where the mussels or larvae have been found.

Zebra mussels were discovered Sept. 18 in Belton Lake, 60 miles north of Austin. It's the first time zebra mussels have been documented in the Brazos River basin, nearly 200 miles south of where they were previously found in Texas.

They were found in Lake Texoma in 2009. Since then, mussels or their larvae have spread to several North Texas lakes.

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