[Water_news] 1. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS - Top Items for 11/2/07

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment

 

November 2, 2007

 

1.  Top Item -

 

 

Water district flexing its muscle to fight mussel

Ventura County Star – 11/2/07

By Zeke Barlow, staff writer

 

Water agencies across Southern California are bracing for the possible arrival of a tiny mussel that could be a big problem.

 

If just one quagga mussel gets into a water system, it could multiply by the hundreds of thousands and eventually cripple infrastructure, decimate fish populations and degrade water quality.

 

Many believe now is the time to act to either keep the mussels at bay or mitigate their effect.

 

The Metropolitan Water District, which provides water to a large swath of the region, recently allocated nearly $6 million to try to lessen the mussel's effects after it was found in Arizona's Lake Mead in January.

 

The Casitas Municipal Water District recently discussed possible ways to keep the mussel out of Lake Casitas, including inspecting every boat that comes to the lake or even banning private boats on the popular fishing lake.

 

"It's a serious threat," said board president Russ Baggerly, who is setting up a series of meetings on how to deal with the issue. "It could affect everything."

Until now, the West has escaped the problem of mussels that has plagued the Eastern U.S. over the past two decades. In the Great Lakes, the closely related zebra mussel has caused more than $5 billion in damage, according to the California Department of Fish and Game.

 

"Their establishment in California waters could result in an environmental and economic disaster," the department wrote.

 

Mussels multiply quickly

The mussels, which are native to Ukraine and came to the U.S. in the ballasts of ships, quickly multiply and can alter ecosystems. They eat many of the microorganisms in the water, effectively taking out a bottom link in the food chain. The imbalance can lead to fewer large fish such as bass or trout and displace fish populations. They can latch onto pipes, valves and dams, decreasing water flows and creating a maintenance nightmare for water delivery systems or electricity-generating dams.

 

The mussels can live on a boat's cooling system and elsewhere, damaging the vessel. It was likely a boat that brought the mussel to Lake Mead about four years ago.

Officials were routinely searching the lake for zebra mussels, which live in shallower waters. Divers didn't immediately find the quagga mussels, which live in deeper areas. After they were found in January, Metropolitan hurriedly started working on a plan to keep the populations at a minimum.

 

Some water lines drained

"People do recognize that if unchecked and they don't put in control measures, they can grow to numbers that can control activities," said Ric De Leon, a microbiologist with Metropolitan who has been working on the issue.

 

The agency has temporarily drained some water lines and plans on building facilities to decontaminate pipes. Some reservoirs in San Diego County have banned outside boats after mussels were found there.

 

Lake Casitas is hoping to keep them out instead of trying to lessen their impact.

 

"The concern is that the mussel is incredibly destructive to both the water resource and to recreation," Baggerly said.

 

Drastic measures may be necessary to stop it. Baggerly said he wouldn't be opposed to closing the lake to outside boats if that is needed to stop the mussels from spreading. The agency's primary charge is to provide water, not recreation, he said.

 

Of the 26,000 boaters who come to the lake, 87 percent are from outside the district, he said. A single boat on Lake Mead one weekend, and Lake Casitas the next, could bring a million-dollar problem.

 

Casitas General Manager Steve Wickstrum said the district wants boaters to take some responsibility in caring for the health of the lake.

"They can ruin it for themselves if they are not taking care of this issue," he said.

 

Boaters being questioned

Boaters are beginning to be asked where their boats have been in the past 10 days. Baggerly said he's considering introducing a resolution that would require every boater to fill out a form about the history of the boat, and establish fines for anyone caught giving false information.

 

Last month, the state gave the Department of Fish and Game wide latitude to enact measures to keep the mussel from spreading.

 

If outside boats were banned at Lake Casitas, fishermen could still rent boats at the lake. But closing the lake is a last resort officials hope to avoid.

Baggerly and Wickstrum said they think a series of meetings with Fish and Game as well as the Bureau of Reclamation will result in a workable solution.

Jeff McCraken, a spokesman for the bureau, said there hasn't been a huge rush to address the problem.

 

"Right now, this is not an issue that we think needs to be dealt with immediately," he said. "That could change."

 

Dana Wisehart, general manager of United Water Conservation District, which maintains Lake Piru, said her agency has been concentrating on other issues and has to quickly learn the nuances of keeping the mussel out of the lake.

 

Don Kendall, general manager of Calleguas Water District, said its water comes via the State Water Project, which hasn't yet had a problem with the mussels.

Wickstrum doesn't think either Fish and Game or the Bureau of Reclamation is dealing with the issue quickly enough but hopes the district can motivate more action.

"We are not alone in this," he said.

http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2007/nov/02/water-district-flexing-its-muscle-to-fight/