The Kern County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will consider whether to declare a local emergency in response to the rapid infestation of local water facilities by the invasive golden mussel.
Local agricultural water districts have already spent millions dosing their systems with various copper-based chemical treatments in an attempt to kill off the mussels.
And one of the county’s key canals that supplies ag and municipal districts had to be “de-watered” for workers to find and scrape out the tiny mollusks, which can quickly build up on surfaces, clogging pipes and rendering equipment unusable.
“Kern County must stand with our farmers and water districts to combat this emerging threat,” wrote Supervisor Jeff Flores in a text to SJV Water. Flores asked county staff to research the issue at the board’s April 28 meeting…