Wednesday October 29, 2025
KCRA 3 —
SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY, Calif. — San Joaquin County is launching a task force to combat the spread of golden mussels, an invasive species threatening the local ecosystem and infrastructure, with the help of $20 million in state funding.
Deep beneath the Delta hides a threat to the ecosystem, as golden mussels, discovered in the area for the first time last year, are known for clogging pipes and harming native species.
“We want to just make sure that we’re doing everything we can to stop the spread of golden mussels,” said District 13 Assemblymember Rhodesia Ransom.
The infestation, which has spread from San Joaquin County to Los Angeles, poses a significant threat to goods movement, infrastructure, and the environment.
“Here in San Joaquin County, you see the high concentration, but now it’s continue to spread further down south and now we’re [golden mussels] in Los Angeles. That is really concerning. This can impact goods movement. It impacts the infrastructure and impacts our environment,” Ransom said.
The new funding aims to establish infrastructure for education, tagging, and inspections, Ransom says.
“And what we can do as a county for information and obviously, decontamination sites,” added San Joaquin County Supervisor Paul Canepa.
Andrew Genasci, executive director of the San Joaquin Farm Bureau, helped illustrate why golden mussels are causing a lot of trouble.
“They’ve attached to the wall of the pipe, and then you’ll see them actually attaching to themselves and growing towards the middle, just eating up that empty space,” Genasci said.
“Intake pipes, farm pipes, storm drain discharge. We obviously need to make sure that those don’t get plugged, because then we could have local flooding. And then the water resources also, and farming for pumps,” Canepa added.
Genasci warned of the broader impact on agriculture.
“You have farms that are not able to draw water during the summer or during the drought. That’s going to impact productivity,” he said. “If you’re not being able to produce, you don’t have need for employees. So… the impact will be felt all the way down the line.”
Ransom said the estimated potential damages could exceed $500 million annually if the mussels spread throughout the Delta.
The newly formed Golden Mussel Task Force in San Joaquin County aims to eliminate the invasive species and mitigate its impact.