A new federal law has added zebra and quagga mussels to regulations regarding invasive species.

Okanagan Basin Water Board Chair, and West Kelowna mayor, Doug Findlater praised the new regulations which prohibit the import, possession, transport, and release of quagga and zebra mussels.

Findlater says, breaking the law can come with stiff penalties.

“For a first offence $100,000 and with subsequent offences prison is an option. That may seem a little heavy, but when you consider the consqeuences of someone deliberately investing a lake it may not be really, really that light a sentence,” Findlater told AM 1150.

While the invasive mussels have never been found in BC waters, experts have said an infestation could cost the province $40 million a year to manage.