DuPage County using freshwater mussels to help keep rivers and streams clean

They might not be the most endearing of creatures, but a tiny mussel can make a huge impact on the environment. Ecologists in DuPage County know all about that, and for a decade they've been working to reintroduce mussels to rivers and streams to improve the health of waterways.

Like a farmer at the start of planting season, Everett Krause is eager to get to work, but instead of planting crops in a field, he wades through the water of Salt Creek just upstream of the Old Graue Mill in Oak Brook.

Krause is an ecologist, not a farmer, but with the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, he gets to plant a seed of sorts.

"We've started affectionately referring to this as Johnny Appleseeding our mussels. Generally, we're just tossing the mussels out," Krause said.

Friday was moving day for thousands of freshwater mussels raised in captivity.

"They start their life in the lab at the Urban Stream Research Center," said Andres Ortega, aquatic resources supervisor at the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County.

The forest preserve runs the lab that's been working for a decade to breed and raise mussels.

"It's very well-known that they are among the most, if not the most imperiled group of organisms on the planet," Ortega said.

Every mussel release plants a seed for recovery for both the mussel population and the body of water they call home.

"Generally, a single mussel can filter around 20 gallons of water a day," Krause said. "Natural water filters, ecosystem engineers. A term a lot of malacologists or mussel experts use is they are the liver of the river."

DuPage County has just hit a mussel milestone. More than 50,000 mussels and counting have been released in local rivers and streams.

Like a farmer, an ecologist gets to see the fruit of his labor.