With the appointment of Scott De Leon as the director of the new Lake County Department of Water Resources, the department will be one of the most important agencies in the county government.
De Leon takes over the department on May 10. Water Resources will be in charge of Clear Lake and all other water that flows into the county, which includes Upper and Lower Blue Lakes, Highland Springs, Lake Pillsbury and flood control. Let”s face it, most of the tourists who visit Lake County are attracted to the area because of Clear Lake, which means the health of the lake is vital to the local economy.
In addition to working with other county departments, the Department of Water Resources coordinates its various programs with the Yolo County Flood Control and Water Conservation District, the Lake County Vector Control District, the State Reclamation Board, the State Department of Water Resources, the State Lands Commission, the State Water Resources Control Board, the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board, the California Department of Fish and Game, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Bureau of Land Management West Lake and East Lake Resource Conservation Districts, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Lake County Career Center and Cities of Clearlake and Lakeport.
Managing Clear Lake alone will take a massive amount of work. There is the quagga mussel prevention program, aquatic weed and algae control, navigational hazards to boats as well as monitoring the docks and other structures that adjoin the lake. To accomplish all this, De Leon will not only have to assemble a knowledgeable team but will have to come up with the money to pay for managing the lake. That”s not an easy task in today”s economy, complete with budget shortfalls. The good news is there are already some excellent personnel working for the county who have years of experience working on the lake.
One of the primary tasks of the new director will be to implement the quagga mussel prevention program. Lake County currently has an excellent invasive species program in place. However, there is still a lot to be done in order to make the program effective. The good news is that much of the groundwork has already been done and all it will take is some fine-tuning to put it into operation. Even so, it will be a formable task to keep the mussels out of the lake.
Algae and weed control will be another important task. Last year the south end of the lake was covered with thick algae mats, enraging lakeside residents, especially in the Clearlake Oaks Keys. The problem is there is little that can be done to control the algae without spending millions of dollars, money the county doesn”t have. This year the lake is full, which may help control the algae. As for aquatic weeds, the amount of weed growth will be controlled by the clarity of the water. The water has been exceptionally clear to date. If it continues the hot summer sun will penetrate to the bottom and create massive weed growth.
De Leon comes to his job with impressive credentials. He is a civil engineer who graduated from California State University Chico and owns his own company, De Leon Engineering, in Lakeport. He has lived in Lake County for more than 40 years, attended local schools and his parents once owned a resort on the lake. He was selected for the position as the director of the Department of Water Resources by a unanimous vote of the Lake County Board of Supervisors (BOS).
Fortunately, De Leon will have valuable assistance from several advisory committees that have been appointed by the BOS. They include the Clear Lake Advisory Subcommittee, the Lake County Fish and Wildlife Advisory Committee and the Invasive Species Council. All three committees have experienced personnel that can offer expert advice.
De Leon said he is really excited about becoming the director of Water Resources.
“I can”t wait to get started because I love the lake and this county,” De Leon said.
