Spain’s zebra mussels reach 40,000 per sq metre, damaging pipes and structures
Invasive zebra mussels are rapidly colonizing water infrastructure across northeastern Spain, causing significant disruptions to irrigation and drinking water supplies. Experts warn that the species' high reproductive rate requires urgent, long-term structural interventions to prevent further damage to reservoirs and canals.
Why it matters
The spread of invasive species poses a critical threat to water security and agricultural stability, necessitating costly infrastructure maintenance and environmental management.
In northeastern Spain, the spread of zebra mussels continues to baffle water management experts, keeping them on alert over the damage to water infrastructure caused by these invasive species. Their presence in reservoirs, irrigation canals and water distribution networks has begun to disrupt water supplies, especially in Catalonia's Lleida province, as per a report by Diario AS. According to specialists who have been tracking the spread of the species for more than two decades, long-term structural measures need to be deployed in order to curb their advance further.An unchecked expansionZebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) are a freshwater bivalve native to the Ponto-Caspian region that has spread across much of Europe and North America. It first arrived in Spain in 2001 when they were discovered in the Ribarroja Reservoir along the Ebro River.
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