Fishermen, boaters and lakeside landowners showed up in force for Sunday’s public meeting hosted by the Lake County Water Resources Department. The meeting dealt with the conditions on Clear Lake caused by recent flooding.
Homeowners were concerned about the possibility of their homes flooding and damage to their docks.
Fishermen wanted to know when the lake will be re-opened after the Board of Supervisors (BOS) closed the lake to all motorized boats on Feb. 14. However, on Tuesday the BOS voted to lift the ban on motorized boats with restrictions. The lake is now open for boaters but there is a 5 mph speed limit when operating within one-quarter mile of the shoreline. There is currently only one boat ramp open and that is at Konocti Vista Casino in Lakeport. Other ramps will open when the lake level recedes (it was just above 10 feet on the Rumsey Gauge as of Tuesday morning).
The good news about the lake being re-opened to motorized boating is that several bass tournaments that were scheduled for March and April will be able to go off as scheduled. The WWBT tournament is scheduled for March 11-12 and should draw 150 or more boats. The Lake County Chamber of Commerce team tournament is scheduled for March 18-19 and, according to chamber CEO Melissa Fulton, the tournament will take place on the scheduled dates.
As for Sunday’s meeting, many members of the public came away confused and didn’t feel like they had received a clear answer on when the lake would be re-opened. A number of fishing guides said that they felt the lake should be re-opened only when the lake level drops to the 9-foot level on the Rumsey Gauge. The lake level has been falling at a rate of about an inch per day since the recent round of storms stopped. At that rate the lake will hit 9 feet on or about March 12. Of course, the major factor is how much rain the county receives between now and then.
Clear Lake tends to rise approximately four inches for each inch of rain that falls. It should be noted that during the record-setting flood of 1998 and another flood in 2011 the lake stayed open to boating. Members of the public also wanted to know at what stage the public ramps would re-open. The county and cities closed the public ramps when the lake hit 8 feet on the Rumsey Gauge. The only ramps that were open were the private ramps at Konocti Vista Casino and Braito’s Buckingham Marine.
The reasons given for closing the lake were because of possible damage to lakeside homes because of boat wakes and damage to the boats themselves caused by floating debris. Lake County Sheriff Brian Martin said t the floating debris consisted of docks that have broken loose and from downed trees floating in the lake.
Many members of the public also were upset that the county didn’t post the closure at the ramps and in other public places. Just about all the fishing guides and local fishermen said they didn’t have any problem with the county closing the lake or establishing a speed limit when the lake reached the flood stage of 9 feet, but they did say the lake should re-open when the lake level drops below 9 feet. The fishermen also said it was the boaters’ responsibility to be on the lookout for floating debris in the lake.
Another problem is that Sheriff Marin has only one boat patrolman and one boat to monitor the lake and that boat is not for rescuing boaters in distress but to pick up docks and dead trees. Several fishermen told me that it wasn’t the sheriff’s responsibility to tow in floating debris the county should use either county personnel or a private contractor to clean up the lake.
Several people at the meeting claimed that Yolo County wasn’t releasing enough water from the Cache Creek Dam. Actually, the gates at the dam are currently wide open but because of the Grigsby Riffle on Cache Creek the water flow to the dam is restricted. The dam is capable of releasing 25,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) but only about 1,400 cfs is actually flowing through the dam.
It’s long overdue for the BOS to establish clear rules on managing the lake. Clear Lake is the lifeblood of the tourist industry that brings in millions of dollars to the county. If the lake had remained closed after it drops below flood stage many of the bass tournaments would have canceled while others would have rescheduled their tournaments at other lakes.
There is no question that lakeside homes need to be protected from boat wakes and fishermen understand this. What is needed is clear guidance from the county on what the boaters and fishermen can and cannot do.
