Some of the state's best investigators are on the hunt for golden mussels, a dangerous new invader in California's waters.

Golden mussels spread rapidly and can upend entire ecosystems.

They encrust underwater surfaces, choke off water supplies, and damage dams and power plants.

Now, officials are shoring up water systems that have already been infiltrated by the golden mussel.

The race is on to keep the mussels and their microscopic larvae from stowing away on boats to invade lakes and reservoirs that so far have not been infested.

Dogs and human inspectors are checking boats at some lakes for mussels and even for minute amounts of water that could harbor larvae.

Resources are stretched precariously thin.

There is no funding dedicated to fighting invasive golden mussels in the state's budget, and a patchwork of oversight leaves many water bodies unprotected.

Golden mussels are native to China and Southeast Asia and were detected for the first time in North America last October, here in California's Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

Now, the mussels are here to stay.

They cannot be eradicated, and water suppliers are instead trying to protect pipes and pumps, and treatment plants against the infestation.

Managers of some lakes and reservoirs also now require inspections and quarantine periods and decontamination with hot water before boats can enter.

Others have closed or limited access to boating.

Most lakes, including large, federally-managed reservoirs in Northern California, have no new protections at all.

State officials are urging boaters to take precautions into their own hands by making sure their boats are clean, drained, and dry, like bone dry, before moving them to new bodies of water to try and contain the spread.

For CalMatters, I'm Rachel Becker.