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LAKE COUNTY ? The battle to keep quagga mussels out of the county got off to a rocky start after the county Board of Supervisors approved four motions, 13 local action strategies and eight state-action strategies to keep the county”s crown jewel ? Clear Lake ? free of the invasive mollusk.

The mussel has been found in 18 bodies of water in Southern California. Its cousin the equally-troublesome zebra mussel has been found in one. It first came to the U.S. by ship to the Great Lakes, appearing in California at least five years ago. But it wasn”t detected until a year ago January. The mussel is costly and difficult to eradicate, spreads quickly and clogs intake pipes.

One of the first steps to ensure the mussel doesn”t make an appearance in Clear Lake was to require all boats undergo inspection for the mussel. After an initial phone interview, boat or watercraft owners, if deemed their boats are likely clear of the mussel, can receive a sticker and sign an affidavit swearing their watercraft is clean.

Between the time the stickers became legally required on all watercraft launched in the county on April 8 and the end of last weekend, the county twice ran out of the 3,000 stickers it had ordered.

“Initially we got two smaller batches because we had such a short time frame from when the Board of Supervisor”s passed it March 25 [the ordinance requiring stickers]. Then launching it on the 8th ? that”s a very short time,” Deputy Director of Water Resources Pam Francis said.

The county tried to encourage area residents to hold off on obtaining stickers until the rush from out-of-towners subsided.

“Most people were pretty patient, but then there were people who came in and wanted all 12 of their stickers right away, which kind of ruined it for other people. Sometimes people are very selfish?we thought, ?no way are there going to be more than 3,000 boats between the 8th and the weekend. But there were,” Francis said.

The county ordered an additional 15,000 stickers, which were delivered Monday. Francis said she cannot predict how many will be needed this weekend with two Bass fishing tournaments set.

“Many participants were here last weekend. So many are carry-overs and don”t need further screening,” Francis said.

Since becoming law on April 8, so far between 15-20 boats didn”t pass the initial phone-in screening, and needed physical inspection before being issued a sticker.

“Fortunately they all passed the inspection. Two had certificated stating they had been from Culvo Bay and had been decontaminated, so we do know that they were cleaned. The other boats we looked at were completely dry,” Francis said, adding it is “best if” boats are dry for five days.

Although there is no way to tell whether a boat has been dry that long, other than the honor system, Francis said inspectors can run a hand over the hull and actually feel for the mollusk.

“The hull was completely smooth. The small juveniles have a sandpapery feel,” Francis said.

During the period of time when the stickers and affidavits ran out at the 33 locations they are available around the lake, watercraft owners were given a slip of paper stating they had gone through screening. Now is the time those early participants in the sticker program can obtain an affidavit and sticker from the county.

“Any time you roll out a new program, there are glitches ? like anything else it takes a while to get the training wheels off. I think it”s been very successful. Ninety-nine percent of people have been nothing but patient and concerned,” Francis said.

The county expects to receive shipments of four wash stations for contaminated boats next month. It has also employed the use of two Caltrans signs, one on Highway 20 and one on Highway 29, notifying boaters of the need to undergo inspection.

“The quagga team is working on developing the fee-schedule to have boats inspected at a wash station. We need to calculate how much to cost to run each of those and predict how many customers in order to get the price. There are so many unknowns it”s so difficult to do ? It”s going to be a challenge,” Francis said.

Contact Elizabeth Wilson at ewilson@record-bee.com.

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