LAKE COUNTY ? It happened to the Great Lakes?tiny invasive species killed the fish and altered the ecosystem to eerily clear and unhealthy bodies of water. Authorities have not been able to reverse the damage.
For Clear Lake, preventative measures are underway to halt the hitchhiking of the invasive quagga mussel from infected Southern California lakes, reservoirs and aqueducts. The mollusk”s microscopic larvae to thumb-nail size shell could easily make its way north by attaching itself to personal watercraft that has taken a spin in grim waters. The mussel can rapidly reproduce and soon covers rocks, ramps, pipes and posts with a spiny sheet of shells.
A discussion about mussel-prevention occurred last week during a workshop sponsored by the Lake County Fish and Wildlife Advisory Committee and the county”s Department of Water Resources. Extensive testing has confirmed that at present, there are no mussels in Clear Lake. County officials are brainstorming about how to manage the quagga”s main means of travel?recreational boats.
According to Carolyn Ruttan, water resources program coordinator, the county is focusing on educating the public about the mussel and paying to monitor for the mussel with $10,000 granted to the county by the board of supervisors.
The county purchased 11 “substrate sample sites” or “quagga traps” and placed them at boat ramps in all three arms of the lake. The traps span the water column and their surface would attract the larvae or mollusk like a magnet.
“Education is the key to this whole problem. Unless the members of the general public know to check their boat?it probably will come to the lake,” Ruttan said, adding another educational tool is an ad about quagga mussels the county bought that appears at Lakeport Cinemas as audiences wait for movies to start.
Additionally, DNA fingerprinting and analysis of materials skimmed from the lake with a mesh net occurs each month. Four road signs have been made and will start being posted “any day now”?two on either end of HWY 20, one on HWY 29 and one on HWY 175.
The state is paying for eradication in Southern California and neighboring states” lakes, aqueducts and reservoirs where the quagga mussel has appeared. The mussel severely threatens Southern California”s water supply with its rapid pipe and aqueduct-clogging nature. It has been found in more than a dozen locations in the state, including the Colorado River Aqueduct”s entire 242-mile system. State officials are discussing the possibility of draining reservoirs that connect with the aqueduct as an eradication method.
“The state is doing a helluva (sic) lot, but not in Clear Lake. The reason for that is they”re directing their valuable resources to those water bodies that are in deep, serious trouble. In the water resources opinion, that”s where the state needs to pour their resources right now?.I think the state will be able to fund in the category of millions of dollars when this problem rears its ugly head in the majority of water bodies,” Ruttan said.
Dr. Ted Grosholtz, a biologist and specialist in cooperative extension at UC Davis and an expert on invasive species including the quagga mussel, said the state is not doing enough. “At the highest state level, it”s not a priority; they don”t seem to see the threats at hand.” He said in infected lakes, there have been no successful eradications of the mussel, which threaten two important resources in California: irrigated agriculture and drinking water.
“They clog up the drains, pipes, cover canals and can stop pumps. They could potentially stop the water supply, which is why the metropolitan water district in Los Angeles has invested several million already in this. They are really the only operation in California other than California Fish and Game to hold this up as a priority,” Grosholtz said.
In Lake County, there are not resources in the millions of dollars for preventative measures such as off-shore wash stations, which would cost $1 million each, to rid boats of mussel larvae, called “veligers.” But it”s not out of the realm of possibility to place check stations at each of the four main routes into Lake County, Ruttan said, adding the method would be easier than trying to monitor boats before they enter the lake somewhere on the vast, more than 100-mile shoreline. In addition, Lake County Department of Fish and Game wardens have been assigned to the mussel problem. They are training dogs to sniff out the presence of mussels or veligers on boats. New legislation has authorized DFG to stop vessels entering the county for inspection, as well as give DFG the authority to close bodies of water that may be contaminated. The state will soon require bass tournament organizations go through an additional process ensuring participating boats are not infected either with the mussels or their microscopic larvae. Lake County is in the process of adding a permit requirement, a process requiring a legal document signed by tournament contenders. It must state their boats have not been in an infected lake for 30 days.
Grosholtz said it is possible that if caught quickly, the mussel could be stopped from spreading, “But the prognosis for eradication would be very slim. The key is to keep them out,” he said. Ruttan said she is optimistic that Clear Lake won”t get the mussel, because of educational efforts and high-tech testing that occurs monthly in the lake. “A good thing is the minute we”ve got it, we”ll know it, and there will be no doubt about it.”
Contact Elizabeth Wilson at ewilson@record-bee.com.
