LAKE COUNTY — A few of the major projects outlined in the Clear Lake Integrated Watershed Management Plan have already started to restore wetlands, natural gullies and clean up the Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine.
The Lake County Water Resources Department posted the plan on its Web site to allow for public comment until Jan. 11. The department will have a public meeting Jan. 4 in the Board of Supervisors Chambers to hear comments. People can access the plan at http://watershed.co.lake.ca.us.
The plan includes information and recommendations on water resources including water quality and supply. Land use impacts including agriculture, rural lands, residential and commercial land use, public lands, fire hazard and sedimentation and erosion are detailed in the report. Wildlife and habitat resources accounts for a chapter in the report. The plan also details recreation and aesthetic concerns, invasive species and floodplain management. Lake management and climate change are the final chapters in the plan.
The county realized the need for a Clear Lake integrated water management plan in the 1980s because of the number of stakeholders and lack of a coordinated effort, said Pam Francis, Water Resources director.
“This is something we”ve been working on for decades,” Francis said.
In 2006, staff had public meetings where they got input on what people want to learn in the assessment, said Greg Dills of East Lake and West Lake Resource Conservation Districts.
Erica Lundquist, of Water Resources, said staff found records that described Clear Lake as cloudy in 1873 in an effort to come up with a baseline of what”s normal for the lake, Lundquist said.
Department of Water Resources noticed lake transparency has improved since 1992 and Water Resources staff recorded the deepest transparency ever in Clear Lake on May 18. Then there was a major algae bloom this summer.
“We hope there isn”t going to be a repeat of the lymbia bloom of 2009,” Lundquist said.
Clear Lake has flooded in the past because the natural outflow of the lake isn”t enough to let out a high rate of rainfall, Lundquist said.
The district is working to double what”s left of the wetlands and protect Clear Lake hitch, Lundquist said.
“Climate change is already here,” Lundquist said. “A lot of what we need to do is to be able to adapt. The other side of the coin is to slow it down.”
Contact Katy Sweeny at ksweeny@record-bee.com or call her directly at 263-5636, ext. 37.
