OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — A state biologist says flushing Olympia’s Capitol Lake hasn’t done much to control a New Zealand mud snail invasion.
About 12 percent of the tiny snails died after the lake was flushed with saltwater. Scientists were hoping to kill 50 percent.
State officials drained the lake about two weeks ago and then filled it with salt water from Budd Inlet. Apparently the water wasn’t quite salty enough to kill the snails.
They were discovered late last fall but probably had been there for about two years. It is the only known infestation in the Puget Sound region.
