Endesa is carrying out a pilot programme to study the biology, ecology and control and eradication options for the zebra mussel and expects to publish the results widely to help improve the environment.
An environmental and economic problem. In mid 2001 the first zebra mussels were identified in various areas of the lower stretch of the Ebro river. The zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) is an agent of radical ecological change that threatens the ecosystems it colonises in the short and medium term and also represents a socio-economic risk of enormous magnitude. Its economic effects primarily consist of placing limits on or causing losses in the efficient use of water (surface cleaning and pipe blockages where the organisms have attached themselves), as well as limiting the practice of recreational activities, etc.
As regards hydraulic projects and infrastructures, the primary problems associated with the presence of masses of Dreissena include a more or less major blockage of water catchments and mains because of biofouling on the walls and bottom of the reservoir, grilles, piping, etc., resulting in costs both at an operational level (efficiency, interruptions, overheating, etc.) and in terms of maintenance (treatments, tasks, etc.).
Endesa’s pilot plan. In the summer of 2002, Endesa built a task force formed by technicians and specialists from different areas in order to design and implement a pilot plan to control, and if applicable, eradicate the zebra mussel in the largest possible number of places and facilities in the lower Ebro River.In December 2002 following a series of meetings the task force finished drafting its "Pilot Study on the Zebra Mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) in the lower part of the Ebro river."
The plan focuses primarily on the Ribarroja and Flix hydroelectric plant water catchment and channel infrastructures. Its targets are as follows:
- Recognition of the ecology of the Dreissena polymorpha species in the lower Ebro River (Ribarroja to Mora d’Ebre, approximately), with particular emphasis on the factors and phases of development that would be the most ideal for countering the invasive species.
- Study of potential treatments and/or strategies that are efficient and environmentally appropriate for preventing the attachment, as well as for the eradication, of the zebra mussel from hydraulic structures and facilities.
Video of the zebra mussel