LaSalle County Generating Station

About the Program
The LaSalle County Station is situated on 3,055 acres of land and is approximately 75 miles southwest of Chicago. Of the site's total acres, 2,048 acres are actively managed for invasive species control. A wildlife habitat team composed of dedicated site employees actively manages and monitors all habitat projects being undertaken on-site. LaSalle Lake, a freshwater lake intended for the plant's cooling purposes, also serves as a public fishing and recreational area operated by the Illinois DNR. This lake forms the basis for the wildlife team's zebra mussel monitoring project. 

Practices and Impacts

• The LaSalle team works to detect the presence/densities of zebra mussels at intake structures and source water bodies. By evaluating year-to-year changes in zebra mussel populations (including settlement densities), the team gains a better understanding of this invasive species and provides a basis for examining possible effects of zebra mussel colonization.
• Artificial substrates were placed in front of the LaSalle Station river intake. Zebra mussel settlement is determined by scraping the sampler for material, and mussels found are calculated to a per square meter result.
• While zebra mussels have been identified in LaSalle Lake in the past, current sampling has shown no growth in the population of zebra mussels.