LAKE COUNTY ? Clean, drained and dry. That”s what any boat must be before it can launch in Lake County.
Officials are stepping up efforts to prevent the county”s lakes from becoming infested with quagga and zebra mussels. In addition to altering aquatic ecosystems, the invasive mollusks reproduce quickly and clog water intake pipes, costing governments millions to manage the populations.
County ordinance requires boats to have mussel inspection stickers prior to launch. Area vendors who issue the stickers as part of the county”s prevention program were recently put to the test, according to Pam Francis, deputy director of the Water Resources Division of the county”s Public Works Department.
“We sent a person in with a filled-out application that was very suspect, in that it would raise alarms for anyone who was a trained screener,” Francis said.
The sting operation took place during the weekend before Memorial Day. Francis said all seven vendors who were visited by the person posing as an applicant passed the test.
There are approximately 20 who that issue quagga inspection stickers throughout the county, and Francis said more stings are planned.
“In the future we will be doing the same thing at all locations that issue stickers to make sure everybody knows what they are looking for and everybody is complying with the program as it is intended,” Francis said.
The questionnaires screeners use ask what type of boat needs the inspection sticker, when the boat was last in the water and where. Francis said if the boat was last launched in an infested or suspect area within the last 30 days, the boat needs to be physically inspected for mussels.
“Southern California, Riverside and San Diego counties, Arizona, Nevada, Utah and approximately 28 states are on the list (of suspect locations),” Francis said. “Any boat coming from those areas needs further inspection.”
The decoy”s application said her boat was from a suspect location. Every screener did what was expected, which was to tell her the boat needed an inspection. Francis said screeners even called her, and each other, to pass the word.
Efforts are also under way to better inform the public about the sticker requirement, and to allow the public to hold boaters accountable.
Lakeport City Councilwoman Suzanne Lyons said the city plans to put up an approximately 4-foot-by-4-foot sign on Highway 175 Hopland to warn drivers, “It”s the law: only clean, drained and dry boats may launch. Stickers required.”
The sign will also feature the county”s quagga mussel hotline, 263-2556. She said the city hopes to install it before the Fourth of July.
Lyons said efforts are also under way to close smaller boat ramps, which she said are harder to monitor, and to install signs with the number to call to report a boat without an inspection sticker at public boat ramps throughout the county.
To report a boat without an inspection sticker, call the Lake County Sheriff”s dispatch center at 263-2690.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com, or call her directly at 263-5636, ext. 37.
