Help Keep Quagga Muscle Out of Tempe Town Lake

If you aren't familiar, the Quagga Muscle is similar to the Zebra Muscle. It is about as big as an average person's thumbnail, and that is the problem. At maturity, they get into machinery and clog things like water intake valves, engine cooling water intake grates and other devices. Not to mention that if your boat is moored in a Quagga positive lake, they can adhere to the hull and decrease your fuel efficiency and slow your boat down. To make matters worse, Quagga larvae are microscopic, making a visual inspection for them insufficient. There is now concern that this invasive species will be transferred to Tempe Town Lake through portage of boats from Lake Pleasant.

If you are a boater that trailers your boat to the different lakes available to us here in the greater Phoenix metro area, please take some precautions to ensure that you don't have any unwanted passengers on board.

Clean your hull - spray it down at the lakeside before leaving if possible, or at a self serve high powered car wash on the way home.

Drain the water - Drain all the water from bilges, live-wells and between hull spaces.

Dry everything - Dry the hull and all you gear.

Wait 5 days - If possible, wait 5 dry days before launching your boat in another waterway.

Tempe Town Lake is a confined body of water and introduction of the Quagga Muscle could be disastrous to the water recirculation systems, dams and docks that make the lake fun and enjoyable for all of us. For more information, please visit the Arizona Game and Fish website at www.azgfd.gov. Please do your part!