LAKEPORT >> Declaring tourism as Lake County’s biggest draw and that tourism is one of the largest revenue streams, the point person on the issue of algae blooms, cautioned the Board of Supervisors of economic impacts on Tuesday, December 19.
“It’s not just Clearlake Oaks or Clearlake but the entire county as a whole (at risk) and this is the story being told by tourists outside the area and we need to change that,” District 2 Supervisor Bruno Sabatier told fellow board members.
Memo 23-1363, a proposal to purchase a buoy system to rid the lake of algae is sponsored by District 3 Supervisor Ed Crandell and Sabatier to reverse algae growth from over several prior decades. One sticking point is the hefty $1.5 million price tag and that the system, while effective on smaller lakes, has not been implemented on such a large body of water as Clearlake.
Crandell added he had been talking with Clearlake Oakes Water Co. about being a partner and they can possibly attract other collaborators such as Nice Mutual Water Co. and California Water Service. “This could be cheaper than the oxygenated project the Blue-Ribbon Committee passed,” Crandell said. The Blue-Ribbon Committee for the Rehabilitation of Clear Lake was established by Assembly Bill 707 in 2017. This committee comprises 15 members and plays a crucial role in the restoration of Clear Lake, which is vital for Lake County’s economy and ecosystem.
“If people drive through Highway 20, they’ll see and smell the lake- it’s discouraging,” Crandell said. “I looked into another oxygenated program, EverBlue Lakes and it was way more expensive. I’d like to see us move this forward; if we have to get other funding, I’m fine with that.”
While supportive of championing the program, Chair Jessica Pyska noted other partners need to be involved. She added that the board needs to understand how this project impacts the lake and they need to cooperate and help each other.
“We have two cities and tribal nations that share our shore,” she said. “In my mind, this has to be a collaborative project; it just can’t be one entity, one agency,” she said. And she acknowledged it has been vetted by the Blue-Ribbon Committee. But she also noted the county has a limited reserves, about $3 million, but cautioned they need to leverage that since they have more projects proposed.
“We never had reserves like we do now,” Pyska said. “It’s really critical we keep them. because we are looking at both state and federal deficits. This is not our budgeting conversation- not the mid-year (budget update). I cannot wrap my mind around putting out a $1.5 million project right now. We’re not looking at the context of our budget now. This is something I cannot support funding today.”
Yet Sabatier read a quote from the San Francisco Chronicle dated, August 3, 2022. The headline read, “Toxic algae in this Northern California lake.” The story continued, “It (algae blooms) is corrupting drinking water and causing horrendous smells.” Sabatier also cautioned the algae can cause severe health effects in livestock and humans, including rashes, hives, vomiting, coughing and wheezing.
He also advised by not cleaning up the algae, water districts will increase costs owing to increased treatment. Also, new state regulations specific to Clear Lake, now tests for cyanobacteria and microcystin. But purchasing from LG Sonic, the MPC buoys, they attack a wide variety of algae. Buoys provide water monitoring data every few minutes. “Basically, the sonar breaks down algae so it floats to the top of the lake, so it can go back down to the bottom,” Sabatier said. The plan is to install 28 buoys in site specific areas around the lake.
District 1 Supervisor Moke Simon noted listening to the board’s discussion he detected it is in support of doing this project somehow. “We’ve talked about Community Development Block Grants, and I’d really like to see if we can write this grant,” he said. He then inquired of the rest of the board if there was interest in reducing the project scope from 28 buoys to 10, or perhaps 20. “That spurs the conversation among the agencies and the tribal nations,” he said.
Yet District 4 Supervisor Michael Green pointed out they do not have a technical subcommittee. And he added obviously reducing the number of buoys reduces cost but also increases a probability the system then will not work as intended. “Let’s do this in an informed way,” Green said. “Let’s get LG Sonic on the phone, get their technological assets in on a collaboration. On collaboration, the Blue-Ribbon Committee, is collaboration. Fact, it didn’t get 100% buy-in does not mean it didn’t get approval. We just don’t have the check right now. I’d like to move something. forward now, that we’re not slicing half the top off without really justifying other than our concern over funding.”
Although the board did not agree to take action immediately, they did reach a consensus on revisiting the item. Green noted he was not all that concerned with recruiting new cohorts. “Collaboration we’ve tried for 50 years,” he said. “We have an actionable project, let’s find the funds to do it and let’s get to work on all the other programs BRC voted for.”
