LAKEPORT — Fling goers to the Friday Night First Fling at the Lake County Arts Council will have an opportunity to vote for the “People”s Choice Award” in the Clear Lake Advisory Subcommittee (CLAS) Quagga Mussel poster contest. 69 students from around the lake participated in a contest to design posters to raise public awareness of the threat posed to Clear Lake by the invasive species.
CLAS will award a number of cash prizes including one for the winner of the people”s choice award. The votes cast this Friday evening at the Arts Council will determine the winner of the prize.
The quagga mussel is an invasive species first spotted in the U.S. in the Great Lakes in 1988, brought by a ship from the Ukraine. They reproduce rapidly, at more than 1 million offspring a year, and are no larger than a fingernail. The larvae and mussels can attach to watercraft and “hitchhike” their way to new waters. They alter ecosystems, clog pipes, and are difficult and costly to eradicate.
CLAS is an all-volunteer committee assigned by the County Board of Supervisors to the quagga mussel problem. 11 mussel traps installed by the county that are checked monthly so far have been clear of the mussel. CLAS secretary Suzanne Lyons said Deputy Director of Water Resources Pam Francis will be presenting ideas of how to prevent the quagga from getting to Clear Lake at the Board of Supervisor”s meeting on March 18. Prize money in the amount of $300 for the winning posters in the contest will also be presented at the meeting.
The quagga has appeared in several southern California lakes. In an effort to keep Lake Casitas in Ventura County free of the mollusk, on Tuesday officials there voted to close the lake for one year to watercraft, with the exception of boats permanently moored in the lake. The lake has approximately 26,000 boats launched per year.
The Department of Fish and Game is the only entity currently authorized to close Clear Lake, and no steps have been taken in that direction.
Lyons said a meeting between community members that occurred Wednesday brought several quagga prevention methods to the table, but that the bottom line is that there is no money available to fund them. “I think the city and the county need to treat this as a number one priority right now. The lake is the lifeblood of the community?we need to access all the information from people and communities that have already dealt with this problem, because once it”s here there”s no cure and there will be billions of dollars in wasted money,” Lyons said.
She said she became involved because it needs to be a grassroots effort. “People need to clamor, e-mail everyone in government and ask ?what are you doing, what are you doing?””
At least three options were discussed at the meeting. One is to treat boats with hot water, which kills the mussels and its larvae, another is to douse boats in a chlorine mixture, and another is to install checkpoints at the four major routes into the county or decontamination stations at access points to the lake. Another effective way to kill the mussel is ensure a boat is dry for five days, which kills both the mussel and larvae.
But all these tactics require money the county and cities do not have. Terry Knight, outdoor columnist for the Record-Bee, was in attendance at the Wednesday meeting.
“This is almost identical to the hydrilla problem (an invasive aquatic plant found in Clear Lake). There was no money for hydrilla originally, then finally when the agriculture and health departments took over suddenly a couple of million dollars appeared, and hydrilla eradication continues to be funded today.”
He said those departments may become involved in the quagga mussel case and money made available through those entities, because the species does threaten public health and agriculture. “It will end up doing to the delta. It will get into Cache Creek and play havoc with Yolo County farmers because it will clog up the pumps,” Knight said.
CLAS will award a number of cash prizes for the quagga mussel poster contest, including one for the winner of the “People”s Choice Award,” from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday. Attendees can cast a vote and refreshments will be served. The Lake County Arts Council is located at 325 N. Main Street in Lakeport. The phone number is (707) 263-3933.
Contact Elizabeth Wilson at ewilson@record-bee.com.
