LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A new bill signed by the governor will establish new fees on boats in an effort to increase quagga and zebra mussel prevention efforts around California.
Gov. Jerry Brown’s office reported that on Sept. 23 he signed AB 2443 by Assemblyman Das Williams (D-Santa Barbara). The bill goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2013.
Williams’ bill would impose additional fees of up to $20 – over the current registration fees owners of water vessels pay to the state – which would be used for the implementation of dreissenid mussel monitoring, inspection and infestation prevention programs, according to the Legislative Counsel’s digest.
Dreissenid mussels – including quaggas and zebras – began appearing several years ago in Southern California water bodies.
They’re considered particularly devastating to ecosystems, and fears about their impacts have led to the establishment of inspection and sticker programs in Lake County in order to protect Clear Lake, Blue Lakes and other waterways.
State officials said the funds AB 2443 generates will be directed primarily to two agencies – the Department of Boating and Waterways and Department of Fish and Game – each of which will be administering a separate grant program.
Gloria Sandoval, spokesperson for the Department of Boating and Waterways, said AB 2443’s main purpose was to create a new and dedicated funding source for mussel monitoring and prevention programs around the state.
Sandoval said Boating and Waterways will take the lead in the formation of an advisory group that will set the amount of the new water vessel fees.
The fees that will go to Boating and Waterways will go into the Harbor and Watercraft Revolving Fund, she said.
The agency will administer grants to agencies that manage eligible lakes and reservoirs, according to Sandoval.
Andrew Hughan, a spokesman for the Department of Fish and Game, said that agency also will receive a percentage, which it intends to distribute through a separate grant program.
“We’re going to create a new grant program that does not exist now,” said Hughan, noting that current grant administration staff will take on the duties associated with the new program, with no new staff to be added.
He said each public agency that maintains a body of water will be able to apply for a grant that’s specific to mussel prevention efforts.
Hughan estimated that grants won’t be available until sometime in 2015 in order to give the state time to accumulate the new funds.
“It will take us a year at least to get up and going,” said Hughan.
He said the funds from AB 2443 won’t be going into Fish and Game’s prevention program. “We have our quagga program established and we have that built into our program.”
Hughan said Fish and Game wants to be more aggressive in preventing the spread of the mussels. “We want to do everything we can to help other jurisdictions,” which includes assisting with prevention and public education.
Department of Fish and Game wardens do some enforcement – as is the case in Lake County on Clear Lake – in the midst of their other duties, said Hughan.
“We rely on the local jurisdictions to really step up, which they have been,” Hughan said.
Because the bill is so new, Carolyn Ruttan, invasive species program coordinator with Lake County Department of Water Resources, said the local agency is not yet sure of how the new bill may benefit Lake County’s prevention program.
She said there is the concern that the money will be largely directed to affected lakes and waterways in Southern California rather than to prevention efforts in Northern California.
At the same time, she said Lake is hoping to form partnerships with the neighboring counties of Mendocino and Sonoma – all big players in terms of water resources – in order to consider mussel prevention from a regional standpoint.
“We need to think about this problem together,” Ruttan said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .