‘It’s an open invasion’: how millions of quagga mussels changed Lake Geneva for ever
The molluscs are decimating food chains in Switzerland, have devastated the Great Lakes in the US, and this week were spotted in Northern Ireland for the first time.
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The invasive mollusc had infiltrated pipes that suck cold water from a depth of 75 metres (250ft) in Lake Geneva to cool buildings.
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But the damage went far beyond keeping classrooms cool. The university's datacentres need to be chilled, and long-running experiments cannot tolerate temperature fluctuations.
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Now, any activity that uses cold water from the depths of the lake is at risk. Drinking water in Geneva and Lausanne is potentially threatened because the pumping and filtration systems are in the quagga zone. The airport - which uses the same water cooling system as the university - has also been hit.
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Globally, invasive species such as these are one of the five main drivers of biodiversity decline. The ecological knock-on effects in Swiss lakes will play out in the coming years.
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