INVASIVE SPECIES -- An Independent Economic Advisory Board update released last week indicates that the money spent – an estimated $5 million per year from a variety of sources -- in attempts to ward off an invasion of non-native zebra and quagga mussels into the Columbia River basin is money well spent.

However, the report acknowledges there's still a probability the damaging species will eventually get into the Columbia and Snake River systems and raise havoc for irrigators, municipalities and hydropower managers, not to mention boaters and anglers.

See the story from the Columbia Basin Bulletin.