Province draining St. Malo Lake for zebra mussel observation

The province is draining St. Malo Reservoir by 10 feet to help battle invasive zebra mussels. CTV’s Harrison Shin reports.

A reservoir about an hour away from Winnipeg is being drained in an ongoing battle against zebra mussels.

St. Malo Lake levels will be lowered by approximately three metres to observe zebra mussels—an aquatic invasive species.

“We did end up having a bit of zebra mussels infestation … the government has decided to drain the reservoir to help eradicate the problem, and keep our reservoir healthy,” said Cyndi Broughton, local resident and owner of the Prairie Alchemist Café.

Scott Higgins, associate professor at the University of Manitoba and senior research scientist for the International Institute for Sustainable Development, said the mollusks are resilient.

“Zebra mussels are really the poster child for the aquatic invasive species. They spread incredibly quickly,” Higgins said.

He added that this drainage will help with surveillance.

“They should expose a lot of these hard, rocky surfaces and the infrastructure around the lake—like docks.

“This is going to make it a lot easier for the provincial personnel to go around and look.”

For locals, the drained reservoir is quite a landscape.

“(Locals) can basically walk from their backyards—like right onto the base of the lake,” Broughton said.

She added that while kayaks and boats may stay away, she hopes new visitors will come to the lake and take in the rare sight.

“It has peaked some people’s interest to find out, to come out and take a look, and to see for themselves kind of what this is.

“It’s something that there’s a lot of people who’ve never seen this before.”