This data package was assembled and accompanies a project entitled "In the absence of living populations, zebra mussel shells can still impact small rivers," carried out in the Rouge and Huron Rivers in Southeastern, MI., USA in 2017. We assessed dreissenid shell impacts on macroinvertebrate and fish communities. This package includes dreissenid shell density data, water quality data during macroinvertebrate sampling, macroinvertebrate data, water quality data during fish sampling in spring, fish data from spring, water quality data during fall sampling, and fish data from fall. All data tables feature rivers, identifiers, GPS coordinates, and sample dates.