Experts enlist unexpected helpers for crucial task in US waterway: 'Livers of the rivers'

Experts enlist unexpected helpers for crucial task in US waterway: 'Livers of the rivers'

The Tennessee Valley Authority has unveiled a bold new scheme to clean up its rivers. The TVA is unleashing one hundred carefully bred Appalachian rockshell mussels into the Powell and Clinch Rivers.  North America is home to over 300 species of freshwater mussels, many of which are endemic to specific locales, according to the National Park Service.  These stationary creatures act as the "livers of the rivers," per the NPS. They feed by filteri…