LAKEPORT – The Board of Supervisors has ordered county staff to conduct tests at 10 sites around the lake to look for zebra and quagga mussels, and begin a public outreach campaign in order to keep the invasive mussels keep out of Lake County.

Pam Francis, deputy director of the Water Resources Division, went before the Board of Supervisors Tuesday to discuss the threat to the lake and ask for board direction on the next steps to take to prevent its arrival.

As Lake County News reported last week, the county's Water Resources Division is concerned that if the mussels reach Clear Lake the consequences could be devastating.

The mussels, originally from the Ukraine, spread to the United States in the late 1980s, and have since wrought havoc in areas such as the Great Lakes.

Francis, who was raised in Michigan, said she's been back to visit and has seen the damage the mussels did to Lake Michigan, saying it's “a different lake” from when she was growing up.

Beaches littered with sharp, stinking mussel shells, mussel-coated water intake pipes and piers, and changed ecosystems are just a few of the ways the invasive pests have changed water bodies like Lake Michigan for the worse, Francis explained.

The mussels were found in Lakes Mead and Havasu at the start of the year, according to Francis. Those lakes supply water to Southern California, and the Department of Fish & Game reported earlier this year that the mussels had, as a result, made their way into California waterways.

In January, the state Department of Food & Agriculture sent teams to inspect Clear Lake for the mussel, but didn't find them, Francis reported.

The mussels, however, can be tough to spot, said Francis. “They're very tiny. They'll fit on a dime.”

And they're extremely aggressive and adaptive in their spread, Francis said. They feed on phytoplankton, which Clear Lake has an abundance of, and mature and begin to reproduce in a year's time.

They produce 1 million eggs at a time, of which about 3 percent – or 30,000 – survive and then are reproducing themselves in a year, said Francis.

Board Chair Jeff Smith said he tried to do the math on his calculator and it couldn't handle the number of digits.

Mussels move with human help

Francis said the mussels can readily move downstream in moving water. “However, they need people to help them move from water body to water body.”

She added, “That's the scary part.”

That's because the mussels can attach to boats, trailers, bait, even vegetation. As a result, they've been able to invade the Mississippi River and its tributaries on its march west, Francis said.

“There's only one way they can get out here, and that is by people moving them, inadvertently,” she said.

The state does inspect some boats coming into the state, and has found the mussels on them.

“Life as we know it will change completely if they show up in this county,” said Francis.

“The bad news is, you really can't get rid of them once you have them,” Francis added. “Your only option is to prevent getting them in the first place.”

Water Resources plans campaign

Francis explained that Water Resources is working with state agencies to develop a strategy to keep the mussels out of Lake County. She also brought the board suggestions from the Clear Lake Advisory Subcommittee, which proposed education and outreach, inspections, and contacting organizers of bass tournaments and water events to enforce inspection requirements.

She asked the board for $10,000 to begin a prevention campaign, which would be funded from tourism taxes used for aquatic plant management.

Smith asked about the conflict in the report she submitted on the time needed for a boat to sit out of the water in order for the mussels to die. He pointed out it has been stated that it takes as little as five days, or as many as 30. Francis said that is an area that isn't clear.

Smith emphasized the necessity to act immediately. “If this gets started in our lake, it's pretty much all over,” he said. “The consequences are unbelievable.”

He added that he thought “drastic measures” were in order, and that the county also needed to discuss the issue with Yolo County. “If we end up with these, they end up with them.”

One of the focal concerns of the board's discussion was bass tournaments.

“That's more than likely the place they're going to come from if they come from anywhere,” said Smith.

Havasu and Mead are popular bass fishing lakes, Smith pointed out, with many fisherman who fish there also coming to Clear Lake. He went so far as to suggest that bass fisherman who participate in tournaments on those lakes shouldn't be allowed on Clear Lake within a 30-day period unless the boats are decontaminated.

Supervisor Denise Rushing asked what the $10,000 would be used for in the anti-mussel campaign. Francis replied that it would cover signage at entry points into the county and outreach materials.

County Administrative Officer Kelly Cox said the aquatic weed management funds that would help cover the outreach currently amount to about half a million dollars, an amount funded mostly by the sale of the Cove Resort.

Cox said he doesn't believe signs at the county's entrance will be sufficient.

He even suggested considering banning bass tournaments altogether if necessary. “You don't want to risk losing the lake for the tournaments.”

Cox suggested adding signage at boat ramps, but pointed to the difficulties in enforcement.

Smith proposed launch fees to incoming boats and a $10,000 fine for boats that enter the lake without being decontaminated.

Supervisor Ed Robey pointed out the need to develop decontamination facilities, and to determine whether or not the mussels are vectors – meaning they carry disease. If they're vectors, he said, vector control funding could be another source of assistance.

Supervisor Anthony Farrington proposed a concerted effort in fighting both the mussels and invasive weeds.

County Counsel Anita Grant reminded the board that when water-based events apply to the county for encroachment permits, they could require decontamination as a condition of permit approval.

Supervisor Rob Brown asked about where decontamination stations would be, and both he and Smith questioned if a regular car wash format was sufficient to remove the mussels.

Suggestions on keeping the mussel out

Ed Calkins, chairman of the Clear Lake Advisory Subcommittee, told the board he believed public outreach would give them the “biggest bang for the buck” in fighting the mussel.

He suggested the issue “is really worthy of a systematic evaluation,” and urged the board to assemble a task force to look at the mussel concerns. “Now is the most critical time.”

County Agricultural Commissioner Steve Hajik told the board that inspections are key to keeping invasive pests out of the county. He noted that the glassy-winged sharpshooter had once been found in Lake County, but through diligent inspections it hasn't been back.

Outdoor writer Terry Knight warned the board that enforcing decontamination requirements with visiting bass fishermen will be a challenge.

He explained that many of the boats that come to Clear Lake come directly from areas in the Midwest --

Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan – where the mussels have been found. In addition, there are six or seven tournaments on Clear Lake each year that draw Southern California and Arizona fishermen.

“You may already have the mussel in here,” said Knight.

Knight estimated that only about 10 percent of fishermen would voluntarily comply with decontamination requirements. “They're going to go put their boat in the water and go fishing. That's a fact.”

Knight suggested the county go to major tournament organizers and get them to implement decontamination requirements. He also said the county should work with the Department of Fish & Game with enforcement.

Upper Lake resident Janet Cawn posed the question she said “nobody wants to hear.”

“Why don't you not let the boats on the lake?” she asked, at least until the county knows how to deal with it.

Smith said he feels there's a happy medium that can be found rather than banning tournaments and water events altogether.

Rushing said she wondered if the mussels aren't already in the lake, and said she was prepared to go as far as preventing boats from outside of the county.

“The loss of an ecosystem would not only be devastating economically, it would be devastating for generations to come,” she said. “This ecosystem is special, it's fragile.”

Brown again questioned how they could enforce keeping out boats. “We can't totally limit boats on the lake.”

The next steps

Francis said there are very good detection methods, including a $300-per site test which would tell the county if mussels are here. She suggested looking at 10 popular sites around the county. Test results would be complete in two weeks.

Robey made the motion to use $3,000 in tourism taxes for the testing, along with the requested $10,000 for public outreach. His motion also included direction to staff to develop an action plan and Farrington's amendment to gear up for inspections.

The board approved that motion, before approving a second by Rushing to have water events guarantee that watercraft are decontaminated before entering the lake.

Smith scheduled a followup discussion on the mussel issue for 1:30 p.m. at the supervisors' June 5 meeting.

Francis said anyone who wants a copy of the DVD presentation she gave to the supervisors can call her at 263-2341.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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