Lake Fort Phantom Hill classified fully infested with zebra mussels

Texas Parks and Wildlife has classified Lake Fort Phantom Hill, just north of Abilene, as fully infested with zebra mussels — the strongest designation the state uses. KACU's Caysson Higgins reported Sept. 17, 2026, that the classification dates to Sept. 1. About 40 Texas lakes now have zebra mussels, and 36 of those are fully infested.

The first mussel found at Fort Phantom turned up when two kids swimming off a private dock scraped a rock. A parent picked the rock up and recognized a zebra mussel on it. TPWD biologist Michael Homer said the department got that call from a concerned citizen. This spring, water samples at six sites around the lake turned up larvae at every site. Adults were harder to find. Fisheries biologist Spencer Dorsey said a crew searched about eight hours in two to four feet of rocky water and found about six mussels.

Fort Phantom supplies anywhere from about a quarter to two-thirds of Abilene's drinking water, depending on the season. City water utilities director Matthew Dane said the drinking water is safe. The practical worry is mussels clogging intakes, pumps, and valves. Crews have set test plates near the intake and check them monthly. None have shown up in the city's infrastructure yet.

Once the mussels are established, they are not coming back out of the lake. Dorsey's message to boaters is clean, drain, and dry — and dry at least a week before launching on a new water. He flagged Hubbard Creek, Stamford, and Cisco as the lakes at risk, because they share a lot of Fort Phantom's boat traffic.

Photo: Caysson Higgins / KACU (empty boat ramp at Lake Fort Phantom Hill, Sept. 16, 2026).

This is a The Gillnet news desk summary, not a reprint.

Source: KACU — Zebra mussels now infest Lake Fort Phantom Hill (Caysson Higgins, Sept. 17, 2026)