Among the results of a settled lawsuit between the City of Alexandria and the Potomac Riverkeeper Network is a project to add thousands of freshwater mussels to the Potomac River.
City Council member Sarah Bagley gave the Council an update last week from the Waterfront Commission where she said the mussels — which are filter feeders and help clean the water –would be added to the river as part of the city’s remediation efforts.
“One element of that settlement is an environmentally beneficial project, and that project is going to involve mussels being introduced into the Potomac,” Bagley said.
Bagley said the exact location hasn’t been determined yet.
“Exactly where hasn’t been determined yet, the Department of Fish and Wildlife will be guiding that decision,” Bagley said, “but it’s an interesting part of the settlement that I thought I would highlight for the community: that we’re going to have local mussels in our waters.”
The Alexandria Times reported earlier this year that the plan is to provide $300,000 to the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources to introduce 20,000 freshwater mussels sometime in early 2024.
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