U.S. Agencies Launch $550,000 Prize Challenge to Stop Spread of Invasive Mussels

Federal agencies have launched a $550,000 prize challenge to solicit innovative solutions for eliminating the risk of zebra mussels and quagga mussels spreading through recreational boats. The Bureau of Reclamation, under the Department of the Interior, is coordinating the effort with NASA. The challenge opened in late February 2026, with concept papers due May 29, 2026.

The prize program aims to inspire methods that block zebra mussels, quagga mussels, and other aquatic invasives from entering or leaving a boat's ballast. The first phase involves written proposals describing novel, non-harmful methods for dealing with the mussels and boat inspections. Up to six winning papers will receive up to $25,000 each.

Participants will then pitch their ideas in a 'Shark Tank' style event to a panel of professionals, with up to three $50,000 prizes awarded for prototype development. The final competition will award up to three prizes, including $125,000 for the winning concept.

The challenge is coordinated by a tournament lab at NASA’s Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation, which assists with crowdsourcing across the federal government.

The program draws from previous competitions that successfully implemented solutions, such as speeding up a federal computer model, VanZomeren noted. The prize seeks solutions that either kill the mussels and their larvae or exclude them, without generating hazardous waste, causing damage to vessels, or creating safety risks.

Existing watercraft inspection and decontamination programs are effective but time- and labor-intensive, creating challenges during peak boating seasons, according to an agency news release.

Many states require boat inspections and decontaminations, which can lead to local backups and delays during busy summer boating seasons. In Utah, a dip tank method has been used to clean boats with hot water. In a few isolated locations, aggressive actions taken shortly after detection eradicated fledgling populations of zebra mussels and quagga mussels.

These eradications occurred in Lake Waco in Texas and along a rocky reef at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Michigan. S. more than 30 years ago, arriving in 1988 and now found in 32 states.

Quagga mussels arrived just a few years after 1988 and are now found in 19 states. The golden mussel was detected in California in 2024. Zebra mussels and quagga mussels foul pipes and other submerged equipment in waterways, including at dams, hydropower plants, docks, and harbors.

They attach themselves by root-like protein threads to submerged equipment and infrastructure at dams, flood gates, marinas, and other waterfront industry facilities. Sherri Pucherelli, a biologist at the Bureau of Reclamation's technical services center who conducts research on aquatic invasives, said, 'The mussels can attach to pretty much any hard surface,' then grow and multiply.

They can damage boat engines and block pipes and cooling water intakes at hydropower plants, allowing generators to overheat.

Their offspring are microscopic and can travel in water sight unseen. The mussels also attach to native mussels, which can be fatal for the native species, and to turtles. Pucherelli said they affect entire ecosystems in lakes, with impacts that cascade across the entire food web.

As filter feeders, they can consume so much plankton that they starve other native species. When the mussels die, their empty shells clutter beaches and cause additional obstructions to filters and equipment when they wind up downstream. The mussels are moved from place to place in the ballast water of vessels, primarily through recreational boats, according to federal documents.

Recreational boats also spread other aquatic pests and plants, such as hydrilla and water hyacinths. Hundreds of invasive species cost the nation billions every year in damages and control efforts. Spending on efforts to repair damages and control or eradicate zebra mussels and quagga mussels is estimated at $1 billion a year.

Preventing the spread of aquatic invasive species remains one of the most urgent natural resource challenges facing the western United States, according to the prize challenge website. Federal and state agencies have urged boaters to clean all plants, animals, sand, and mud from the boat, trailer, props, and anchor before entering the water.

They recommend washing boats off with warm, soapy water when leaving the water.

Agencies also advise draining all water from the boat, including the motor, bilge, live-well, and other compartments before arriving, and leaving the bilge plug out during transport, which is required by law in some states. Additionally, boaters should not take water from live wells and bait buckets to any other water body, but empty it on land and dispose of leftover bait in the trash.

Agencies urge allowing everything to dry for at least five days or wiping down with a towel before reuse.

Usa Today reported these details on the mussels' impacts and the federal response.