Zebra and Quagga Mussels may come to the area

Mar 31, 2008
Lake County to check boats for mussels


By Glenda Anderson
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT


Visitors bringing boats into Lake County next month will be required to have their vessels inspected for zebra and quagga mussels.

The mussels arrived in California last year after hitching their way west on watercraft for almost two decades.

The tiny, prolific invaders from Eurasia can clog water supply systems and alter ecosystems in the lakes and waterways in which they take up residence.

They pose "a significant and imminent threat" to Clear Lake, according to an urgency measure county supervisors approved last week.

The ordinance calls for boat inspection sites to be set up at fire stations in Clearlake Oaks and Upper Lake and at the Konocti Vista Casino and Marina by April 8. By July, there will be inspection sites set up at the three major east, west and south entries to Lake County.

Clean boats will receive stickers.

Contaminated boats will be required to be decontaminated and re-inspected.

Local boats that never leave the county will be eligible for inspection stickers electronically if the boats have been dry and out of the water for at least 30 days.

Violators can be fined $100 to $1,000 and sentenced to up to six months in jail.

Similar ordinances were implemented in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties after the mollusks were found in the San Justo Reservoir in San Benito County early this year, said Lake County Director of Water Resources Pam Francis.

Lake County is spending up to $300,000 on the effort because local officials don't believe state and federal authorities are doing enough to halt the invaders.

"At this point, we're trying to protect ourselves," Supervisor Jeff Smith said.

Most other efforts are focused on educating boaters.

Anti-mussel efforts at Lake Sonoma and Lake Mendocino include posting signs and monitoring lake sites for evidence of the creatures, according to Army Corps of Engineers officials.

There also has been at least one boat inspection at Lake Sonoma's ramps, said Fish and Game Warden Josh Nicholas.

Lake County's economy could be devastated if its crown jewel, Clear Lake, were to be contaminated by the mussels, officials said.

"It's huge in terms of protection of the ecology of our lake and the economy of our county," Supervisor Anthony Farrington said.

The board even considered closing the lake to boats in order to protect it, but decided it would cause too much damage to the local economy.

The rapidly colonizing mussels have caused millions of dollars in damage to water systems on the East Coast.

They made their first North Coast appearances in 1989, were found in Southern California for the first time last year and in Central California in January.

They're believed to have gained entry into the country in the ballasts of oceangoing ships.

The mussels damage water systems by attaching to and clogging water intake pipes and screens.

They also adhere to the shells of native mussels, turtles and crustaceans, consume nutrients needed by other organisms and foul the environment with their excretions, harming fisheries.

They die in great numbers, which creates a nasty stench and leaves sharp, glass-like shards of shells along shorelines.

Details of the new regulation are available by calling 263-2556.

You can reach Staff Writer Glenda Anderson at 462-6473 or glenda.anderson [at] pressdemocrat.com.