Now, Washington County's Forest Lake has been added in the list of dozen other Minnesota lakes infested with the aquatic invasive species. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources said that zebra mussels have been found in the lake.

The department officials said that a lake user found a quarter-inch long zebra mussel. And then, DNR found at least 11 adult zebra mussels on the eastern and southern shores. DNR invasive species unit supervisor Heidi Wolf said that they have found the mussels on two different shores, which means that zebra mussels are widespread in the lake.

Steve Schmaltz, board manager of the Comfort Lake-Forest Lake Watershed District said that the implementation of the enforcement program has led the invasive species to remain out Forest Lake for the past seven years.

The watershed district has funded for 500 to 1,500 annual boat inspection hours. This year, the authorities concerned have increased the inspection hours to 3,100 hours. Schmaltz said, “It's kind of ironic that this year when we ramped up the coverage it actually enters the lake. It points out the fact that even though you do a lot of protection people really transport the invasive species into the lakes”.

There are more than 200 Minnesota bodies of water that have been infested with zebra mussels. It is very important to keep boats and other watercrafts to be cleaned properly as otherwise the aquatic species can be easily transported on them.