A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
March 18, 2008
3. Watersheds
INVASIVE SPECIES:
California reservoirs, lakes threatened; Zebra and quagga mussels could cripple any water system - Fresno Bee
DELTA DREDGING:
Suisun City to dredge silt from waterway - Fairfield Daily Republic
Weigh in on Trinidad watershed plan - Eureka Times Standard
INVASIVE SPECIES:
California reservoirs, lakes threatened; Zebra and quagga mussels could cripple any water system
By Bill Morem,
The pernicious little animals, from microscopic to 2 inches in length, are zebra and quagga mussels, believed to have hitched a ride to the
The mussels have cost public utilities in the
But that's not all. If the mussels establish a beach head in
"They pose a threat anywhere," says John Hollenbeck, project manager of the $173 million Nacimiento pipeline project. "If they got into Nacimiento, we couldn't get them out."
That's the thinking that led the Casitas Municipal Water Board on March 4 to close one of the top three bass fishing lakes in the nation to outside boaters. (Boats stored at the lake, as well as marina rentals, can still get out on the water.)
The
With the zebra capable of spawning anywhere from 30,000 to 100,000 offspring a year -- and the quaaga up to a million a year -- an infestation has the capacity to "completely cripple any water system," says Hollenbeck.
The animals grow in such thick masses that they first would completely choke the lake screens on the water system's intake pipe, he adds. Those would have to be cleaned regularly.
"If we get them in the main pipe," he explains, "that increases friction of the water moving through the pipe; that means a need for larger pumps to push the water. Smaller pipes -- from 3 to 4 inches in diameter -- will be completely shut tight and have to be replaced."
Don't move a mussel
In their larval stage, these mussels are adept little hitchhikers. They like nothing more than to attach themselves to hard surfaces like boat hulls. From there, they can migrate into a boat's motor and cooling system, bait wells, trailers and even bumpers of trucks that back into lakes for launching.
And that's why after zebra mussels were found in San Justo Reservoir in
Endangered recreation?
"As recreation providers, we're concerned," he explains. "So we're trying methods of education. We have fliers at the lakes, marinas and launch ramps, telling people what to look for. We're doing spot inspections, but we don't have the resources to go over every boat."
Jenny's concern is if the invaders are found at either or both of the lakes, the county Public Works Department -- which oversees domestic water production for Lopez and Margarita -- could close them to recreational use.
Such a move would be a recreational and financial hit to the county parks program: Santa Margarita brings in about $50,000 a year in launch fees and annual passes with more than 4,000 launches a year.
Lopez draws an average of 450,000 visitors a year, with some 7,500 annual launches that run the gamut of boats, personal watercraft, wind surfers and canoes. When those launches are combined with the 550 people who buy passes for unlimited launches, annual revenue there totals about $95,000.
The impact of having to close Lopez "would be huge to us," says Jenny. "And imagine the impact on local sporting goods, from selling bait to boats to rods and reels.
Maintenance or prevention?
Paavo Ogren is the county's top engineer of public works. As such, he oversees water supplies at Lopez and Margarita. He attended a state Department of Water Resources conference on mussels about six months ago and left with a sense of wary resignation.
"We weren't given a lot of optimism at the conference," he recalls. "Preventative programs have been attempted; it's been limited -- and usually means delaying the infestation.
"Is there any reason to believe we can be more successful than others who have tried prevention?" he asks. "Probably not. It's going to be a maintenance program; it's just a matter of time."
Fish & Game spokeswoman Alexia Retallack doesn't agree. As part of an educational blitz, her agency sent out mussel educational material to all of the state's registered voters, in addition to some 1.2 million boaters who are reregistering their boats.
"Food and Agriculture has stopped every boat coming into the state since January 2007," she notes. #
http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/467760.html
DELTA DREDGING:
By Ian Thompson, staff writer
That is good news to larger boat owners such as Don Sefcik, who now has to wait for the tide to rise to tie up his boat near the Solano Yacht Club.
Sefcik recently attempted to berth his vessel during low tide only to discover 3 feet from the dock 'that the keel was in the mud and I had to wait for three hours until the tide went up.'
Buoys set out by the harbor master mark off the worst spots, and 'you are pretty safe if you stay in the center,' Sefick said.
Very low tides sometimes expose the mud in some spots near the public boat launch on
Whispering Bay residents have used fish finders such as depth gauges to determine how much water they have under their boats. They have been telling city officials that the water behind their homes is getting pretty shallow.
The city will first hire a consultant to work out the specifics of what work is needed and then put the project out to bid, said Mick Jessop, director of the city's recreation and community services departments.
Work will begin on
Whoever gets the dredging contract will start in late fall clearing out mud from around the launch ramp,
The main goal is to deepen the center channel to about 8 feet at mean low tide.
'We will be working around the boat launch ramp to allow the bigger boats to get in and out at low tide,' Jessop said.
The last dredging took place six years ago, and about 120,000 cubic yards were dredged. It is expected that a similar amount will be dredged out this fall.
Funds of the work, estimated roughly at $800,000, will come from sources such as the Whispering Bay Assessment District, the Fairfield-Suisun Sewer District and a city dredging account.
The channel is dredged once every five to seven years. How quickly the channel will have to be dredged again will depend on how long and how fierce the winters are and how much silt is washed down into the slough.
http://www.dailyrepublic.com/story.php?id=101.0
Weigh in on
The draft Trinidad-Westhaven Integrated Coastal Watershed Management Plan -- designed to reduce or eliminate water quality problems in the area -- is ready for public review.
One opportunity to provide feedback on the plan is during the Trinidad-Westhaven Coastal Watershed Project meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the
The session will feature a presentation of the plan's highlights and a public comment period.
”The project team has studied the watershed and water quality to determine the most serious watershed and water quality problems in the
The whole process was primarily prompted by the enforcement of the state-designated Area of Special Biological Significance ranking for the kelp beds in and near
”The watersheds draining into the bay are also considered a Critical Coastal Area (CCA) by the state of
Nine watersheds, chosen for their influence on
For more information, contact Project Coordinator Rebecca Price-Hall at rpricehall@trinidad.ca.gov or 677-0223.
On the Web: A copy of the plan is on the city's Web site, www.trinidad.ca.gov.
If You Go:
What: Trinidad-Westhaven Coastal Watershed Project community meeting
When: 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday
Where:
http://www.times-standard.com//ci_8609649?IADID=Search-www.times-standard.com-www.times-standard.com
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