Clear Lake ? California”s largest freshwater lake ? is the greatest asset that Lake County has. Our economy is pretty much small business, resorts, casinos and vineyards and many of those businesses depend upon tourism and growth.
As summer continues, Lake County is facing some of the worst lake conditions, startling to even long-term residents. Many business people are seeing a reduction in tourism as the odor, skin rashes and water conditions take Clear Lake off the list of destinations for summer vacationers. As plans continue to go forward for the Mount Konocti land purchase, we as residents of Lake County must ask ourselves where the geothermal funds money would benefit our county the most. The ongoing conditions of Clear Lake are not to be remedied by waiting for our winter rains. The State of California has released a report telling Californians to be prepared for hotter weather, drought conditions and water constraints for many more years as the influence of global warming will change the way we live. I believe Supervisor Tony Farrington is still attempting to negotiate a resolution with Yolo County regarding water withdrawal.
A dialogue needs to begin with our board of supervisors and a course of action needs to be recommended. Those conversations must cover our current plans to purchase another open space area for a price tag of $1,200,000. While mountains make great watersheds, that mountain doesn”t need to be owned by the county to create that watershed. And while the mountain is beautiful, and will make wonderful hiking trails, how many residents of Lake County will actually benefit from the county owning property at the top of a mountain.
Conversely, there is no public access to Clear Lake, our greatest asset, from Corinthian Bay to the City of Clearlake. There are some small HOA- owned marinas and two privately owned marinas, but these options don”t help tourism and those privately owned marinas may not stay as such in the future. We know there are investors looking at picking up at least one of them for development.
There is a 56-acre parcel of land off Konocti Bay with easy lakefront access. I believe it is owned by the Thurston family and is currently approved for a subdivision. We do not need a subdivision in this area, we need public access to our lake. This would be an ideal opportunity for the county to purchase land for lake access and parks, hiking trails, etc., that would be accessible to all Lake County residents and tourists alike. The land is not far from Konocti Harbor Resort and is adjacent to Clear Lake Riviera off Soda Bay Road. The purchase of this parcel and at the very least, the building of a public boat ramp would bring added revenues to the county coffers due to an increase in tourism and an increased tax base.
It is our opinion that opening another park at the top of Mount Konocti, when the largest draw to our county is the lake itself, is our Achilles heel. We need a clean, clear lake and more public access to the lake.
The board of supervisors toured the lake to assess the algae situation on Aug. 11 and they will be conducting a public meeting on Aug. 18 to discuss the condition of Clear Lake and hopefully, progress with the negotiations with Yolo County.
If you have thoughts or ideas on how to protect your lake and would like those thoughts and ideas heard by your supervisors, please attend the meeting. It”s important that the board of supervisors are aware of the concern Lake County residents have for the protection of our lake. For more details on time and place , please call Georgene at the Board of Supervisors ?. 263 2368.
Anita McKee and Ann Marie Borges are both in the real estate business in Lake County.
