LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The 2013 recreational boating season in Lake County is under way.
Local residents are reminded to get their 2013 mussel prevention registration sticker before using their vessel in any Lake County water body.
Also, remember to check in with a participating screener when you return from an out-of-county trip with your boat. These inspections and any necessary decontamination is free.
Please continue to support the program that has been successful in keeping Lake County mussel-free.
The highly invasive quagga and zebra mussels can be spread unknowingly from one body of water to another on boats and equipment with devastating effects to lakes, boats, docks, water intake equipment and beaches.
Continue to spread the word to anyone who may not know about the most serious biofouling pest ever to be introduced to North American freshwater systems.
A few important facts:
- Quagga mussels can colonize hard and soft surfaces, mud, plants, docks, boat engine cooling systems and water pipes.
- Mussels can potentially produce millions of offspring in a season.
- Densities of Zebra and Quagga mussels in Lake Mead since their first introduction in 2005 have grown exponentially and now account for 40% of all animal population in the lake.
- Beaches become littered with piles of glass-sharp shells.
- Mussels can seriously alter the chemistry and biology of the local water ecosystem.
Prevention results from education. Lake County boaters are encouraged to continue to lead by example.
Obtaining and displaying your 2013 mussel prevention registration sticker is vital to getting other recreational users of Clear Lake to participate in the County Mussel Prevention Program and keeping Lake County mussel-free.
The county thanks the 27 participating screeners for continuing their vital role in the prevention program.
For the latest list of screeners see www.nomussels.com or call 707-263-2344.