Like the fishery of the Elk River, the native mussel community contains a diverse group of organisms that also includes Federally Endangered species. The resource agencies were concerned about mussel mortality due to exposure from the receding waters of the shutdown. As a result, mussels were assessed (WV DNR, USFWS, and USACE) at multiple locations downstream of the dam. The multi-agency team located very few exposed mussels and found that significant mussel beds downstream were not exposed.