LAKE COUNTY ? Efforts to protect Lake County”s waterways from invasive species of mussels and waterweeds continue.
The Lake County Board of Supervisors heard reports Tuesday on the status and need for progress, specifically in the efforts to combat continuing hydrilla growth in Clear Lake and to prevent the spread of the quagga and zebra mussels into the county”s water bodies.
Greg Giusti, chair of the Lake County Fish and Wildlife Committee and University of California Davis Extension advisor, presented a report to aid the county in complying with a new state law aimed at preventing the spread of quagga and zebra mussels.
“Our only hope is to give a fresh set of eyes to what can only be described as a Herculean effort on the part of a small county to try and address this very invasive organism,” Giusti said.
The law requires government bodies in charge of public reservoirs that allow recreational boating and fishing to evaluate the waterways” vulnerability to mussel infestation and to enact a prevention program. Clear Lake, Lake Pillsbury and the Indian Valley Reservoir were identified in the report as the county”s biggest priorities because of their impact on the state”s watercourses.
Boats are required to have a quagga and zebra mussel inspection sticker prior to launching in any of the county”s water bodies. Giusti estimated that 75 percent of the boats launching on Clear Lake have a sticker. Giusti said the most urgent need is to make the process of getting an inspection sticker easier for weekend boaters.
“Almost all the feedback I”m getting from outsiders is that they cannot find a sticker on the weekends,” Record-Bee outdoor columnist Terry Knight told the board.
He gave the example of a Barstow family who wanted to go out on Clear Lake for half an hour last month and ended up launching without one after searching for a place to get an inspection.
Giusti said the sticker program currently under way in Lake County should not be abandoned, but can be strengthened by a statewide sticker program. He said there could be legal problems with county employees stopping vehicles on the four highway entry points to Lake County to require inspection.
The invasive mussels have been found in California waterways and are known to clog water systems, threaten the ecosystems and spread so quickly that getting rid of them completely is nearly impossible, and efforts to keep the population down are costly.
Giusti said the county can use the report to push the state to develop an alternative solution that would require counties with known infestations to inspect boats before they leave, and to request funding for the efforts.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com, or call her directly at 263-5636 ext. 37.
