Lake County >> The news is good: Clear Lake is still clear of quagga and zebra mussels.
But the danger is still present. The many fishing tournaments over the last few months have increased the boat load on the lake between 15 and 20 percent, according to Lake County Department of Water Resources (LDWR). Many of these come from the Central Valley and Southern California, with the continuing drought conditions forcing boaters and anglers to travel further afield to get their aquatic fix.
A major part of Lake County’s continued success in keeping an infestation at bay is due to the watchful eyes of LDWR’s quagga mussel team, led by Mark Miller. It’s the job of Miller and his team of 31 to perform the boat inspections that are an integral part of keeping these invasive species out, as well as keeping a weather eye on monitoring locations scattered throughout the lake.
“We have 17 sites around the lake that we observe regularly,” he stated. “We just had a test done by the Department Fish and Wildlife. The quagga mussel is microscopic — you just can’t see it. Fish and Wildlife comes out twice a year, once in spring and once in fall, and look for organisms. They send samples down to Bodega Bay for investigation, and if they find anything, they let us know.”
Both residents and visitors alike are required by law to apply for a quagga sticker before going out onto the lake. The process includes a physical inspection of the boat as well as filling out a form listing everywhere the boat has been for the previous 30 days — the life expectancy of a quagga mussel outside of water. The biggest concern, said Miller, is any standing water that might have been overlooked on the boat, adding that, “the little critters will survive in any kind of standing water for an extended period of time.”
Boats that have recently been to an area with known mussel activity are quickly decontaminated.
“We just pressure wash the vessel,” he explained. “Hot water or salt water will do the trick; we use 140-degree hot water. The mussels are easy to kill if you catch them before they get into your water.” Currently, Miller and one other member of the team are the only ones certified to handle decontamination, but there are plans to train and certify several more of the inspectors.
Miller says the most common place for the mussels to turn up is not on the hull of the boat, but trapped inside live wells that the owner may not even realize has water still in it.
“If you’re boat is dry, they’re [the mussels] not on it,” he said. “If they remember to pull drain plugs and let it all dry, they won’t have a problem. It’s a very simple thing to solve. Clean, dry boats — that’s what it’s all about.”
One of the biggest obstacles in enforcement of the sticker ordinance, according to Miller, is confusion caused by a state-issued Quagga sticker, which doesn’t exempt boaters from acquiring the one issued by the county.
“The state came out with a sticker saying, ‘quagga fee paid’ to help fund water grants… but they’re not looking where that boat’s been,” he explained. “People rolling in from out of town think they’re OK because they have the state stamp, but they have to go through our program too. If they look at the fine print, they’d see “excludes local ordinances”, but nobody looks at the fine print, and that causes a lot of confusion.”
Part of the department’s plan to help manage boat traffic moving on and off the lake is to station monitors at boat ramps to check for the county Quagga sticker. The monitors’ duty will be to provide education and to direct boaters to the nearest inspection point, which are located throughout the county.
If you are aware of anyone trying to access the lake without the quagga sticker, LDWR advises contacting the Lake County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO).
“We have an ordinance in place,” said Miller. “The [LCSO] is very much aware of the dangers the quagga can cause to the economy and will responding to any calls. A single pair of mussels can produce a million offspring in a season. They love pipes, dark cool places. It’d have a major impact to the water companies and anyone who draws water from the lake. Hoover dam spends millions every year just so they can keep drawing water. Quagga have no natural predators in the U.S. They stay in check in Europe because of natural predators, but nothing eats them here. If they get into the lake, it’ll have a huge economic impact.”
For additional information, contact the Lake County Department of Water Resources at 263-2344.
