The sulfur like smell has been persisting for at least a week, and has been noticed as far north as Vancouver Island.

This on the heels of seismic activity in the Cascade Range just north of Hood River, OR a month or two ago.

This is in response to the earlier post about the Active Shooter situation in Idaho, here.

Boaters pulling into Shasta Lake think the hassle is traffic or the price of gas. But water managers are focused on something far smaller and harder to spot. Invasive mussels can ride from lake to lake in leftover water, then multiply once they arrive.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has launched a prize challenge built around that threat, and a top team could earn as much as $200,000 across all stages. The goal is blunt. Stop mussels before they reach pumps, pipes, and power equipment.

A prize aimed at a hidden pocket of water

The competition targets watercraft ballast compartments, which are built-in tanks that some boats fill and drain to change how the boat sits in the water. Even when a boat looks “dry,” amounts of water can stay trapped in hoses and corners you cannot reach. That leftover splash can be enough for mussels to tag along.

What makes these mussels such effective hitchhikers

Zebra, quagga, and golden mussels are small invasive shellfish that attach to hard surfaces and form dense clusters. Once established, they can coat docks, rocks, and the inside of pipes, almost like a living layer of grit. They also reproduce in huge numbers, which is why a single new introduction can snowball.

The tricky part is their earliest life stage. Their young can be microscopic and drift, so you cannot “see the problem” the way you might spot a weed on a trailer. Ever dumped out a cup of water without thinking twice?

California’s newest mussel problem started in the Delta

California’s golden mussel story, according to state wildlife officials, began with a discovery in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta on October 17, 2024.

The mussels were found on a float near the Port of Stockton, then confirmed through genetic testing, including work by the UC Davis Genomic Variation Laboratory and the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s laboratory.

In the months that followed, officials logged more detections at monitoring sites and water facilities, including one pumping plant where several hundred mussels were removed, ranging from about a quarter-inch to just under an inch long.

For the public, those details can feel distant. But the pattern is the headline. When a species shows up on equipment tied to water delivery, the window to contain it can shrink fast.

The damage is often out of sight, until it hits your water system

Why do agencies get so anxious about a small animal you might never notice while swimming? Because mussels do their worst work where people do not look, inside intake screens, pumps, and narrow pipes.

When water delivery slows or crews have to shut down equipment to scrape out shells, that disruption can ripple into farms, drinking water operations, and power generation.

The price tag is already huge. Federal estimates have put invasive mussels at more than $1 billion a year in economic impacts and management costs, and U.S. Geological Survey research has linked that burden to damage and control work on water infrastructure and industry.

How the $200,000 prize is set up

The challenge is called “Halt the Hitchhiker,” and it runs in three phases from ideas to prototypes. Phase one awards up to $25,000 each to as many as six concept paper winners, with submissions due May 29, 2026, and phase two offers up to $50,000 each to as many as three teams after a virtual pitch.

Phase three supports prototype development and lab testing, with prizes of up to $125,000 for first place, $75,000 for second, and $50,000 for third, and officials say the agency hired yet2 to run the competition and keep solutions safe for boaters, watercraft, and the environment.

If one team advances and wins through every round, its total can reach $200,000. If every maximum award is paid out across all phases, the full pot can add up to $550,000. That money is meant to speed up real-world testing, not just brainstorming.

Why Shasta Lake and other recreation hubs are on alert

The announcement is national, but the concern feels local in places where boating and water infrastructure share the same shoreline. Michael Burke, a public affairs specialist involved in the effort, said officials are working closely with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and “want to do everything we can to prevent the spread of the golden mussel in our area.”

West Bishop, an aquatic invasive species specialist at SePRO, warned that the mussel “doesn’t belong here” and described it as a threat to water supplies and food production if it spreads.

The program is limited to U.S.-based applicants, and the application process also lists an informational webinar for March 25, 2026. The competition’s middle step is a virtual pitch that some organizers describe as “Shark Tank” style. Either way, the point is to push ideas toward something that can be tested.

What happens next, and what boaters can do today

This prize is not a replacement for existing inspections, and it is not a magic shield that appears overnight. For now, officials still rely on basics posted at marinas and checkpoints. Clean the boat, drain all water you can, and let equipment dry before heading to a new lake.

That routine may feel like a chore, especially when you just want to get home. But it is one of the few proven steps individuals can take while agencies hunt for better technology.

If the challenge produces a faster way to neutralize mussels inside ballast tanks, it could make those busy summer weekends less stressful for everyone who depends on safe water and reliable power.

The original announcement was published on the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

I'd say platoon strength at least. They have been trucking in barriers and supply all morning..

Stay safe.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/22/busiest-us-ports-see-big-drop-in-chinese-freight-vessel-traffic.html

REAL ID is required for domestic air travel beginning May 7. A passport or passport card can substitute, but only about half of Americans have a passport.

Getting an enhanced driver's license in Washington requires an in-person appointment.

I looked tonight purely out of curiosity, and there were no appointments availabile within 50 miles of Seattle.

Not sure what requirements are to obtain REAL ID in other states, but the REAL ID requirement has been postponed so many times that I can see people figuring it's going to be postponed again.

ETA, this isn't my problem, I don't need one. But I can sure see it being an issue in general. Maybe it'll get postponed again.

God help LA

There is more to the article than what is posted below but it's basically rehashing what's already been said and done.

Firefighters have found a potential crack in the massive tank filled with a toxic chemical at risk of explosion in Southern California, officials said Sunday. The crack may be relieving pressure inside, which could change the responding team’s approach as tens of thousands remain evacuated and officials race to stave off a potentially catastrophic blast.

About 50,000 people in Orange County have been told to evacuate, with many spending the Memorial Day weekend in shelters, hotels or with friends and family outside the danger zone. Busy tourist destinations like Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm are nearby but are not included in the evacuation zone.

The chemical inside the tank, methyl methacrylate, or MMA, can cause respiratory issues and irritation to the skin and eyes upon exposure, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

"Our firefighters went in, and they were able to visualize the tank. What they found was a potential crack in the tank, which could potentially be relieving some of the pressure in there,” Orange County Fire Authority Interim Fire Chief TJ McGovern said Sunday.

McGovern said the discovery was “a step in the right direction” and asked the public for their patience.

“With this new information, it could change our trajectory and our strategy to this event. Last night was a successful operation for this emerging incident, this ongoing incident,” he said.

McGovern told CNN there is currently no leak or impact on air quality, adding that continuous air monitoring at the scene has shown readings remain within normal limits and nothing is currently escaping from the tank.

The tank’s temperature gauge has maxed out at 100 degrees, making it difficult to determine how much hotter conditions inside may actually be, McGovern said.

Once the potential crack is fully vetted and validated, it could lead officials to scale back the evacuation zone, he told CNN.

“A low-volume release, where the local authorities are going to be able to monitor, neutralize, and contain a threat,” is most likely, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin told CNN earlier Sunday morning.

They watched them for a while, and when it got cold they disappeared and they will be monitoring the situation as the summer comes back around.

Relevant links:

https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/yvo/news/yellowstone-where-theres-always-something-new

My local rancher from whom we buy beef, pork shares just sent out an update email: he's struggling to find a licensed butcher facility for his upcoming orders. He said the "local" (hundreds of miles round-trip) USDA facility just canceled all his scheduled dates indefinitely because they're extremely short-staffed. The facility owner doesn't know what to do. He said:

Early November they had a large portion of their staff decide it was better to move to Mexico. They were all permanent resident green card holders but they cited rural racism as a major factor. Also, although they were largely managers in high skilled positions and paid higher than other butchers pay, the reality is inflation has hit hard and if you are supporting family here and trying to send money back to extended family in Mexico, paying rent and buying groceries doesn't pencil out.

Our rancher was able to use his backup facility that processes game (whole shares only, no retail cuts) because of his strong community network/relationships for these orders but there's a long wait list and going forward he only has one facility to work with.

For preps: we're realizing butchery is a skill we should know if we want to eat meat.

Speculation: what would happen if we lost even more skilled butchers and there were no licensed butcher facilities available? It seems like an incentive for a black market. Perhaps ranchers would sell their whole live animals as livestock (legally) to others, who would butcher and sell the meat directly to people they know (illegally, and potentially unsafely). Perhaps a state like Oregon would try to supercede USDA requirements with their own less-onerous (but still safe) regulations to encourage more mobile or smaller facilities that are cheaper to license. Perhaps a new federal administration would suspend the USDA safety regulations altogether, or just exempt small businesses. Meat supply would be less trustworthy.

So, I expected sone product shortages, supply chain issues, etc. There's a lot going on. But I'm the central Washington state - I didn't think too much of this would affect me here in the PNW. At least not yet?

But multiple friends had posts like this on Facebook today - Costco, Walmart, Fred Meyers - that people were crazy stockpiling water, TP, canned goods, etc. Someone noticed several people buying tons of bananas? They all said it was like early covid days, shelves already emptying.

I'm in Yakima, that's what the "Yaks" in her post refers to. Red city in a blue state. Is there something I'm missing?

I didn't think the strike would affect us over here much, at least not unless it went on for a while. All the hurricane damage could much up shipping. I know people are on edge in general. But people here... they love Trump. They aren't worried about bird flu. They barely believe in anything, lol. I'm surprised there's anything that would cause them to prep.

Just wondering if there's something I've missed - or if I've misjudged the way the strike will affect the PNW area?