Preparing for an Introduction

This purpose of this section is to summarize prevention efforts to date, compile information on lessons learned from rapid response exercises, and provide information on the status of rapid response plans for states, provinces, and tribes.

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Prevention Efforts to Date | Rapid Response Exercises |
Lessons Learned from Rapid Response Exercises | State Rapid Response Plans

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Prevention Efforts to Date

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Columbia River Basin states have implemented numerous strategies to prevent the introduction of dreissenids into the basin, including:

• Staffing watercraft inspection and decontamination stations

• Piloting nighttime watercraft inspection and decontamination stations

• Hosting rapid response exercises to prepare for an eventual introduction of dreissenids into the basin

• Compiling and summarizing after action reports from rapid response exercises to evaluate lessons learned

• Participating in 100th Meridian Initiative meetings to network and share information

• Participating in Building Consensus in the West to establish standard protocols and procedures for preventing the spread of dreissenids via watercraft

• Hosting watercraft inspection and decontamination trainings throughout the West

• Conducting economic analyses on the effects of dreissenids 

• Developing state-level model legislative provisions to promote reciprocity among state watercraft inspection and decontamination programs

• Conducting vulnerability assessments on hydropower facilities throughout the basin

• Enhancing water quality monitoring efforts throughout the basin, including establishing dreissenid mussel sampling and monitoring protocols and laboratory standards for dreissenid veliger analysis

• Sharing the latest news and information on aquatic invasive species

• Coordinating at international, national, and regional levels

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Rapid Response Exercises
 

 

 

 

Montana Rapid Response Exercise, Fort Peck Reservoir After Action Report(2021)

Oregon Dreissenid Rapid Response Exercise, Lake Billy Chinook After Action Report (2020)

Lessons Learned - State Dreissenid Rapid Response Exercises (2019)

Hells Canyon Exercise (May 2019)

Montana Rapid Response Exercise After Action Report, Flathead Lake (September 2018)

Washington State Rapid Response Exercise After Action Report, Lincoln Rock State Park, Wenatchee, WA (October 2017)

Jackson Lake Rapid Response Exercise After Action Report, Jackson Lake Wyoming (May 2016)

2013 Columbia River Basin Interagency Invasive Species Rapid Response Exercise, Prineville Reservoir, Oregon (April 2013)

2011 Columbia River Basin Interagency Invasive Species Rapid Response Exercise, Lake Koocanusa, Libby, Montana (October 2011)

2010 Columbia River Basin Interagency Invasive Species Rapid Response Exercise, Lake Roosevelt, Spokane, Washington (September 2010)

2009 Columbia River Basin Interagency Invasive Species Rapid Response Exercise, Boise Idaho (April 2009)

2008 Columbia River Basin Interagency Invasive Species Rapid Response Exercise, Portland, Oregon (October 2008)

2007 Columbia River Basin Interagency Invasive Species Rapid Response Exercise, Vancouver, Washington (October 2007)

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Lessons Learned from Rapid Response Exercises

 

The basic principle of Early Detection Rapid Response (EDRR) is that an invasive species will be detected, contained, and eradicated before it becomes established, thus slowing the range expansion of the species and costly financial investments to contain and control the species through time.

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Entities in the Columbia River Basin (CRB) have been hosting dreissenid rapid response exercises to prepare for an eventual introduction of dreissenids in the CRB. The exercises are intended to evaluate the ability to implement the Columbia River Basin Interagency Invasive Species Response Plan as well as each state’s rapid response plan, ensuring a rapid response is feasible. Early iterations of these exercises were primarily off-site tabletop exercises. Through time, these events have matured into multi-day exercises involving an Incident Management structure, multiple partners, and site-specific practical activities.

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Since 2009, 10 dreissenid rapid response exercises have occurred in the CRB states of Washington (3), Oregon (2), Montana (2), Idaho (2), and Wyoming (1). Exercises have evolved through time from basic one-day table-top exercises to establish processes and protocols, to multi-day on-site events implementing Incident Command System processes and procedures. Through time, host states have attempted to expand the complexity of the exercises, engaging numerous jurisdictions (international and Tribal sovereign nations as well as federal, state, and local governments).

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A report was produced in 2019 to review past rapid response exercises and compile lessons learned to inform future exercises.

State Rapid Response Plans
 

Oregon (Amended April 2017)

Washington (Amended June 2017)

Idaho (Amended October 2015)

Montana (Amended June 2018)

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Provincial Rapid Response Plans

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Alberta (October 2019)

British Columbia (February 2015)