Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment
March 20, 2008
1. Top Items
Clamping down on quagga mussels; Lake Casitas and other Southern California waterways ban recreational boats in an effort to keep the non-native pests from fouling drinking water supplies - Los Angeles Times
Supervisors approve purchase of four check stations for Quagga - Lake County Record Bee
Clamping down on quagga mussels;
By Catherine Saliant, staff writer
Local water authorities have begun closing some of the state's prime fishing lakes in an effort to keep an infestation of tiny quagga mussels from fouling drinking water supplies for nearly 375,000 residents and threatening fish populations.
The closure two weeks ago of
Managers of local waterways say they've been forced to take drastic steps because the state Fish and Game Department has dragged its feet in dealing with what they say is the critical threat the nonnative mussels pose to vast supplies of drinking water.
Fish and Game has declined to ban recreational boat use at nearly a dozen locations where the pinkie-sized mollusk has been found, including in the Colorado River Aqueduct, Lake Havasu, two lakes in Riverside County and five reservoirs in San Diego County, water officials say.
"They are leaving open the infected waters, and we have to close our clean lakes to protect ourselves," said Russ Baggerly, a member of a
Fish and Game's acting director, John McCamman, believes that outright bans are an overzealous response,
"Closures are a last resort," Foreman said. "The director has made that clear."
Native to
"The state has the authority to impose many more measures than they have done so far," said Kate Rees, general manager of a
Local managers say they aren't opposed to lakes being used for recreation and that temporary closures will give them time to come up with effective strategies to combat an invasion. Fishing from shore is still permitted, as well as boat fishing from vessels that have been dry-docked.
Other lake managers have responded by tightening boat inspections, requiring hot-water washes and placing suspect vessels in quarantine for several days. The mussel cannot survive more than a few days without water or at temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, according to biologists.
At
"Everyone is very aware of the issue, and we are doing as much as we can from a preventive level," Fitzpatrick said.
Fish and Game officials, meanwhile, maintain that the local agencies' alarm is misplaced. A state task force that includes officials from Fish and Game and the departments of Boating, Waterways and Water Resources is fine-tuning a coordinated attack on the quagga and its close cousin, the zebra mussel, said Susan Ellis, an invasive-species program manager.
Dive teams have been regularly inspecting water bodies in
Foreman and other Fish and Game officials say these and other measures should be given a chance before closing off recreational fishing. And for now, it appears that the mussel's migration has not reached beyond waterways fed by the Colorado River in
"The risk is low that mussels found in those water bodies would come north," Ellis said.
In January, Fish and Game confirmed the presence of zebra mussels in San Justo Reservoir in
Heads of local water districts say they don't want to take any chances with the quagga, which has proved a formidable pest that can wreak havoc on water filtration systems and alter a lake's ecology.
Rees of Lake Cachuma said the mussels cause an estimated $100 million a year in damage in the eastern
In addition to damaging waterworks, the mussels disrupt the food chain by absorbing nutrients used by other species, including steelhead trout and bass, Rees said.
They consume so much plant life that the water turns clear, allowing sunlight to stimulate the growth of a blue-green algae that can cause taste and odor problems in drinking water, she said. A healthy female can produce as many as 1 million larvae per year.
Rees and others fear that if the mussels are not kept out of local waterways, water customers will end up footing the cost of filtration and cleaning operations. If
"My water district customers are not going to feel good about paying for something that is introduced by recreational activities over which they have no control," Charles Hamilton, general manager of the Carpinteria Valley Water District, told Santa Barbara County officials.
Fishing enthusiasts packed the March 4 hearing to protest the ban on outside boats at
Even temporary closures could have large effects on the local economy as bass fishing tournaments dry up, they argued. Casitas officials estimated the closure would cost the water district about $600,000 in lost revenue and hurt local businesses.
"You can take reasonable measures to prevent the spread of these invasive species," said Tom Raftican, president of the United Anglers of Southern California. "Let's certainly explore that before we simply close the lakes."
The board's action has been so divisive that frustrated anglers are threatening a recall of the three board members who voted in favor of it.
Baggerly said he had no apologies about the closures.
"If they brought the mussel to the lake, the fishery that they love would die," he said. "They need a clear understanding of what is being saved and what's being lost." #
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-quagga20mar20,0,1606335,full.story
Supervisors approve purchase of four check stations for Quagga
By Elizabeth Wilson, staff writer
After more than three hours of discussion that included a presentation by Deputy Director of Water Resources Pam Francis and feedback from citizens, the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a motion to implement 13 strategies to combat the quagga.
The strategies include decontamination stations located strategically at the four main routes into the county, as proposed by Supervisor Anthony Farrington.
In addition, stickers good for a short period of time either monthly or weekly will be required on boats so that law enforcement can easily identify when an out-of-county boat has undergone decontamination.
Also required will be an affidavit program, signage notifying boats they need to access a decontamination station, required decontamination for all bass tournament boats and increased educational efforts including updated brochures and mailings to lakeshore property owners.
A new task force was established to further discuss the strategies, which Farrington said would be implemented "ideally within 30 to 60 days."
That force will include members from the Chamber of Commerce and Supervisor Jeff Smith and Supervisor Rob Brown. That group meets Thursday on the second floor of the
The fast-spreading mussel that damages ecosystems has been found in 18 bodies of water in
She said that "makes me think we've been inoculated with it already" and the question then is "how to balance prevention and preparation."
Local prevention methods that county staff has spent "hours and hours" discussing include the following possibilities, not all of which Francis recommends to the Board of Supervisors.
Closing the lake to outside boats, an option the Board of Supervisors would need to take to the Department of Fish and Game (DFG), the only entity authorized to close the lake if "it appears they may be present," County Council Anita Grant said. "The board could prevail upon DFG to work in concert with that agency," Grant said.
Another option presented by Francis, which Farrington said he "tweaked" in the approved motion, is to install decontamination stations at the county borders, or close the lake this summer until stations can be purchased from a manufacturer in
Francis said options were ranked by staff in terms of effectiveness and associated costs. Those options included closing the lake to bass tournaments, requiring that bass tournament boats are cleaned, or implementing an "honor system of self certifying" that a boat is clean with a sticker.
Out of these options, Francis recommended to the board that by researching clean lakes on the East Coast where the mussel is more prevalent the county can mimic successful prevention methods.
That would involve reprinting brochures to include quagga information at a cost of $5,500. And a student intern program utilizing area high school students to patrol parks and boat ramp areas could help, Francis said.
She said rather than target the 653 private and public ramps on the lake; the county should inform boaters through the recreation industry. "We could get them on board to get their guests to sign an affidavit, and if they are at risk, ask them to please go down to a decontamination system that we have set up," Francis said.
Letters could be sent to the 1,650 lake-front property owners containing quagga mussel information at a cost of $500.
"The business owners and Chamber [of Commerce's] offered to get more involved in having decontamination stations and operate it as a business," Francis said.
Francis said there are three business owners interested in installing the wash stations, including Hillside Honda, and the best case scenario could have them up and running in one month, depending on how long it takes to order them.
"It would be best to have the county purchase them right away with the agreement with the business to operate them and pay back the county 50 percent of what the initial costs were," Francis said.
Lastly, she recommended a portable hydro-map warning about the quagga that could be taken to bass tournaments. Eight of these could be purchased for $100,000.
"It was an historic day," Farrington said after the meeting adjourned at 6:30 p.m. "We're moving really quickly and trying to do this without having to close the lake." #
http://www.record-bee.com/local/ci_8621555
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