SAUK CITY, Wis. — The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Friends of the Lower Wisconsin Riverway (FLOW) are hoping to bring more volunteers to continue to save freshwater mussels when necessary.

The drought conditions of 2023 led to thousands of mussels stranded on shores of the Wisconsin River and nearby waterways.

What You Need To Know

  • The Friends of the Lower Wisconsin Riverway wants to alert the public of when it's necessary to save freshwater mussels

  • When there are drought condition, mussels will be stranded on shores of the Wisconsin River and nearby waterways

  • There are 50 species of mussels in the rivers of Wisconsin with about half of them considered endangered

  • You can join the mussel rescue group by clicking, here

Ellen Voss is the Climate Resilience Director at the River Alliance of Wisconsin.

She said when they are stuck on land because of low water levels, their pathways can be easily blocked.

“They can’t figure out how to get around it and they don’t know which way. And so, if you were a mussel stuck behind this log, you would probably die,” said Voss.

Last year, Voss could save hundreds of mussels by simply throwing them back into the water.

“They are such incredible organisms that they are filtering massive amounts of water in the ecosystem, like one mussel can filter up to 10 gallons a day,” said Voss. “They are an extremely important part of the ecosystem.”

Lisie Kitchel is a conservation biologist with the DNR. She said there are 50 species of mussels in the rivers of Wisconsin with about half of them considered endangered.

Kitchel believes to protect mussels because they help preserve diversity in the Lower Wisconsin River.

“For their life cycle, they actually to insist on the gills of a fish,” said Kitchel. “Each one has an obligate fish host. Some of them use some fish species. Some of them use a different species. Some only use one species of fish and because of that you need the diversity of mussels because you need to keep that diversity of fish so you don’t have one kind of mussel in the river.” 

Outside of drought conditions, Voss doesn’t expect to find many stranded mussels on the shoreline.

However, she hopes the public will join the Friends of Lower Wisconsin Riverway Mussel Rescue Group.

Voss said this will allow them to alert people when large numbers of mussels are on land.

“We know this is going to happen again and the good thing to come out of this terrible event is that we can be more ready next time so every time we talk about it,” said Voss. “Every time we get more excited about this the volunteer numbers are up, and so we have a chance to save more mussels.”

Voss believes saving mussels is a small contribution of time that makes a big difference for freshwater in Wisconsin and the overall ecosystem.