Option 1 Spend $35-50 million of taxpayer s money for the Full Circle Project, building a pipeline along the south end of the lake to convey wastewater.
Option 2 Build engineered wetlands in Big Valley to filter nitrogen out of tertiary treated wastewater at a pittance of that cost, then convey that water to the other end of the lake via the lake.
Option 1 sounds to me like a pork barrel project with long-term negative operating expenses, probable cost overruns and is totally unnecessary.
Option 2, if designed in conjunction with Adobe and Kelsey creeks, could have a positive long-term benefit to Clearlake by filtering phosphates and nitrogen from runoff before entering the lake. There should be little concern for Clearlake s image if you are positively improving the lake.
Bruce Roberts
Kelseyville
