For more information call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Lake County Animal Care and Control has a kennel filled with dogs of many breeds needing new families.
Dogs available for adoption this week include mixes of American bulldog, Australian shepherd, border collie, cattle dog, Chihuahua, German shepherd, husky, Labrador retriever, pit bull, Rhodesian ridgeback, Rottweiler, shepherd and terrier.
Dogs that are adopted from Lake County Animal Care and Control are either neutered or spayed, microchipped and, if old enough, given a rabies shot and county license before being released to their new owner. License fees do not apply to residents of the cities of Lakeport or Clearlake.
The following dogs at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption (additional dogs on the animal control website not listed are still “on hold”).
This 4-year-old male border collie mix has a short liver and white coat.
He is in kennel No. 5, ID No. LCAC-A-1611.
‘George’
“George” is a 1-year-old male American bulldog mix with a short gray coat.
He’s in kennel No. 6, ID No. LCAC-A-1430.
Male pit bull terrier mix
This 1-year-old male pit bull terrier mix has a short gray coat.
He’s in kennel No. 8, ID No. LCAC-A-1617.
‘Milo’
“Milo” is a 3-year-old male American bulldog-pit bull mix with a short white coat.
He is in kennel No. 9, ID No. LCAC-A-1657.
‘Cookie’
“Cookie” is a 1-year-old female husky mix with a long red and white coat.
She is in kennel No. 10, ID No. LCAC-A-1682.
‘Dozer’
‘Dozer’ is a 5-year-old American pit bull terrier mix with a short brindle coat.
He is in kennel No. 12, ID No. LCAC-A-1483.
Male pit bull mix
This 3-year-old male pit bull mix has a short brindle coat.
He is in kennel No. 13, ID No. LCAC-A-1604.
Female Australian shepherd
This young female Australian shepherd mix has a blue merle coat.
She is in kennel No. 14, ID No. LCAC-A-1672.
‘Groover’
“Groover” is a 1-year-old male German shepherd-cattle dog mix with a short black and tan coat.
He’s in kennel No. 15, ID No. LCAC-A-1659.
‘Topolina’
“Topolina” is a 10-year-old male Chihuahua mix with a short black coat with white markings.
He is in kennel No. 16, ID No. LCAC-A-1663.
Female German shepherd
This 1-year-old female German shepherd has a short black and tan coat.
She is in kennel No. 18, ID No. LCAC-A-1673.
Male Labrador retriever
This 2-year-old male Labrador retriever has a short black coat with white markings.
He is in kennel No. 19, ID No. LCAC-A-1349.
Male pit bull terrier mix
This 2-year-old male pit bull terrier mix has a short black coat with white markings.
He is in kennel No. 24, ID No. LCAC-A-1625.
‘Rosco’
“Rosco” is 3-year-old a male Rhodesian Ridgeback-Shepherd mix with a short tan coat.
He is in kennel No. 25, ID No. LCAC-A-1205.
‘LuLu’
“LuLu” is a 1-year-old female Rottweiler with a short black and tan coat.
She is in kennel No. 27, ID No. LCAC-A-1658.
‘Raina’
“Raina” is a 5-year-old female Rottweiler with a short black and tan coat.
She is in kennel No. 28, ID No. LCAC-A-1480.
Male pit bull
This young male pit bull has a short brindle coat.
He is in kennel No. 30, ID No. LCAC-A-1591.
Male husky
This 2-year-old male husky has a red and cream coat.
He is in kennel No. 32, ID No. LCAC-A-1024.
Male pit bull mix
This 2-year-old male pit bull terrier mix has a short brindle coat.
He is in kennel No. 33, ID No. LCAC-A-1528.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKEPORT, Calif. — The Lakeport Police Department is asking the community’s assistance in locating a man wanted for child abuse.
James Ryan Anson, 33, is wanted on a felony warrant charging the willful infliction of corporal punishment resulting in a traumatic condition and under conditions likely to produce great bodily harm, and infliction of unjustifiable physical pain on a 3-year-old child.
Police said Anson is aware of this investigation and is avoiding law enforcement.
He lives in Lakeport but was last known to be in the Santa Rosa area. He is believed to be driving a gray 2014 Toyota Tundra pickup truck with California license plate number 8R63596.
Anson has prior encounters with police involving evading in a vehicle, resisting arrest, terrorist threats, robbery, burglary and domestic violence.
Police said they have information that he could have recently been in possession of a handgun.
Anson is described as a white male adult, with blond hair and blue eyes. He’s 6 feet 1 inch tall and 200 pounds.
He should be considered dangerous and police ask the public not to approach or contact him but to immediately notify their local law enforcement agency.
Anyone with information related to this investigation or the whereabouts of Anson can contact Officer Melissa Bedford at 707-263-5491 or by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
To find out information from previous BRC meetings or to learn about upcoming meeting agenda’s, please visit the Natural Resources Agency Blue Ribbon Committee for The rehabilitation of Clear Lake website.
I also want to acknowledge some important behind the scenes contributors. As you can imagine, the BRC does not organize or run itself, but this is a daunting yet very necessary task. The BRC, sub-committees, schedules, meetings, agendas, minutes, material preparation and report writing fall unto the mighty shoulders of the Consensus and Collaboration Program at California State University, Sacramento (CSUS) in the College of Continuing Education. The third party facilitators from CSUS are doing a fabulous job of coordinating this huge effort and I fully acknowledge their role in the past and current success of the BRC. As long as the team at CSUS are serving in the facilitator role, the future looks very promising for the BRC and all that will be accomplished for Clear Lake and the communities who depend on her.
Recap
Briefly remember that in 2017 the BRC was approved by the State Legislature in Assembly Bill 707 (Ch. 842, Statutes of 2017) thanks to Assemblymember Cecilia M. Aguiar-Curry (Fourth District). Some parallel California Department of Fish and Wildlife funding was immediately provided to UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC) and the UC Davis Center for Regional Change (CRC) to jumpstart some monitoring and research into Clear Lakes ecology and economy, respectively.
The BRC was also allotted about $5 Million in proposition 68 funds to be used for “capital improvement projects” that would lead to the rehabilitation of Clear Lake. In 2019, the BRC decided on a list of improvement items they wanted funded in 2020, but, due to uncertainty associated with COVID, the list of recommendations was not approved for funding by the Governor until 2021. However, the funds were directed straight from the Governor's budget through the “Drought and Resiliency Bill Package”. These funds were the only funds requested by Lake County’s assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry. For that we thank you, Assembly member.
Due to the source of 2021 funds being from the State budget and not from the allocated Prop 68 funds, there remains a $5 Million balance that needs to be spent by 2025. Therefore, the BRC needs to identify and select projects that will both use the allocated funds and meet the goals of the BRC and AB 707.
In Part 1, I talked about the importance of current and relevant research-driven management, which is an important concept to remember when we describe and detangle some of these BRC projects. There are many complex systems that interact and influence what is happening in the watershed that determine the water quality conditions of Clear Lake. The research needed to understand that complexity is extensive and expensive.
The list below provinces the project title, the agency or organization funded, and a brief description of the task. The total amount approved in the Governor’s budget revision (from May) for these projects and the continuation of the BRC was about $5.7 million.
2019 Recommendations for Funding in 2021
The prices shown adjacent to each recommendation are the estimated amount provided in the 2020 report and might not align specifically with the line-items awarded in the 2021 budget, as that information is still waiting to be released from the Natural Resources Agency and Department of Finance.
1. Develop a distributed model of the upper watershed — US Geological Survey, $1.6 million over three years
This task will be carried out by the USGS with collaboration and input from UC Davis’s TERC team, local agencies, local tribes, federal agencies like Bureau of Land Management and The Forest Service. Basically any type of activity that occurs within the watershed will be included in this model, with the “upper watershed” meaning the area of land that surrounds that lake that has influence over what eventually flows — or doesn’t flow — into the lake.
The model that will be produced from this task is called Sparrow, which abbreviates SPAtially Referenced Regression on Watershed attributes.
Basically this models takes in all the information about the watershed including climate, weather, slopes, soils, stream flows and adds in sediments and nutrients in the runoff from streams, agriculture, urban areas, other land uses and calculates nutrient load predictions and what we should expect to come down the land into the lake based on different scenarios.
An additional — and very interesting — component of this modelling will include what’s called “sediment fingerprinting.” It’s well-established in the literature, and from other studies and monitoring, that soils in Lake County are rich in phosphorus, which has been identified as a major driving nutrient in the lake for influencing cyanobacteria growth. Therefore, any process that produces a large amount of sediment to flow into the lake, from earth moving, stream erosion or land-use change, has the potential to be contributing significant amounts of nutrient phosphorus — through the sediments.
Sediment fingerprinting will “trace” some of the sources of phosphorus entering the lake, and this can help to guide future BRC management projects. To more effectively manage sediments, it’s necessary to locate, identify, and mitigate sediment sources, deposition and erosion “hot spots”. Contrary to popular belief, vineyards and agriculture fertilizer applications are not the sole source of nuisance nutrients in Clear Lake, and the BRC upper watershed model and sediment fingerprinting component will help to identify what the real sources are and guide more effective management.
If you want to know more about sediment fingerprinting, I recommend this fabulous factsheet About Sediment Source Assessment Using Sediment Fingerprints (USGS 2018-3008).
2. Implement a comprehensive basin-wide monitoring strategy — USGS, $1.9 M over three years
Obviously, any watershed assessment needs appropriate monitoring and data gathering to be complete. This task will incorporate all the current and ongoing monitoring information in the basin, including the current data being collected by UC Davis or other researchers in the lakes and streams, any lake and stream monitoring efforts being conducted by the county, urban runoff monitoring from the County and Cities, monitoring by other tribes, as well as with cyanobacteria monitoring being completed by Big Valley Rancheria and Robinson Rancheria.
This task will also identify data and knowledge gaps, and collect the appropriate data to address those gaps. Lastly, the information gathered together in this task will be used to validate and run the Upper Watershed model mentioned in recommendation #1. The upper watershed model needs to input data from the real system so that it can be set up correctly and be tested and verified that it’s working accurately.
3. Conduct a bathymetric survey of Clear Lake — UC Davis TERC, $400,000
This is a very important task valuable for any lake study. A bathymetric survey, or underwater map, is basically a topological representation of the bottom of the lake. We would need this so that we can get an accurate picture (literally) of what the bottom of the lake looks like, including depth, depth contours, sedimentation, sand bars, and anything else that is at the bottom of the lake that might shape the volume and structure of the lake. This map can also help with calculating the current volume of the lake and where sedimentation might have occurred or shifted since the last bathymetric map.
Bathymetric maps are traditionally used heavily by researchers studying lakes or a specific lake. Many states make bathymetric maps of their public access lakes every 20-50 years so that the boaters know how to safely navigate around the lake and so managers can see how the lakes are physically changing shape or volume over time.
Clear Lake has a bathymetric map that is about 10 years old, but it’s not very detailed and it doesn’t account for any recent accumulation of sediments or soils. A new bathymetric map is very much needed and this project will use the most advanced technology to get a high resolution picture of the lake beneath the surface.
4. Review the implementation of existing Tribal, local, State, and Federal programs, Best Management Practices (BMPs), and other management requirements to limit sedimentation/nutrient loading in the Clear Lake Basin - Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians, $60,000
Many policies and procedures that have been written into Tribal, Federal, State, and local law are aimed at protecting environmental resources, and some here in Lake County to protect Clear Lake and prevent pollution impacts to water quality. However, these existing programs and policies are not evaluated regularly and so it’s unknown how most of them function and if they can be improved upon to increase their effectiveness to protect the resources they were created for.
5. Assess the public’s perceptions, attitudes, and knowledge gaps towards water quality in order to improve education and ultimately human impacts on Clear Lake — Lake County Watershed Protection District, $120,000
The purpose of this project is to identify the public’s current perceptions and attitudes towards water quality, and related impacts, in Clear Lake and to identify any knowledge gaps and research information needs. One of the charges of the Blue Ribbon Committee is to identify “barriers to improved water quality in Clear Lake and contributing factors to poor water quality.”
The proposed project helps to address this charge by identifying what barriers exist from the public’s perspective, or how the public’s attitudes and perceptions may be driving behaviors that can both negatively and positively impact water quality. It’s important for managers, researchers, and policy makers to be able to understand how to clearly communicate sometimes complex scientific information about water quality to the voting public.
Additionally, policy decisions driven by community consensus determine the available resources for managing water resources, such as funding for watershed scale non-point source pollution control. Local and state managers can better focus educational and outreach efforts towards the public if it’s clear what the public understands and doesn’t understand about the causes and impacts of water quality.
Results from this project will allow managers to better communicate how management or policy practices, like those produced by the BRC and other efforts, can be beneficial for Clear Lake water quality and ecology.
6. Continuation of Clear Lake Limnological Sampling for 2021 — Lake County Water Resources Department, $100,000
Since 1968, the California Department of Water Resources has been sampling Clear Lake at least three locations (one site in the deepest spot in each of the Oaks, Lower, and Upper arm). At each of these sites, 10 months out of the year, the CDWR sampled a full suite of physio-chemical water quality parameters like nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorous), metals, solids, suspended and dissolved solids, and in-situ (in the water at the field site) measurements like dissolved oxygen, temperature, pH, and conductivity.
In 2020, CDWR decided to terminate the Clear Lake monitoring program in its entirety. In 2021, County of Lake Water Resources took over this program, however abbreviated due to cost inhibitions, but with funds from the BRC, this program can continue at least through 2022.
7. Bridge Funding for UC Davis research efforts — UC Davis TERC and CRC, $100,000
This was a short, one-time task that was needed only if other funds did not materialize for the UC Davis TERC team to continue some of their current monitoring occurring in the lake and tributaries. It would have been devastating to the efforts conducted to date if all monitoring devices had to be removed and there was a significant gap in data collected until funds could materialize.
Thankfully, these promised funds and fast approval by the Governor for the suite of recommendations, allowed the vital research to continue with no data gaps and allowed for the information to provide meaningful results.
8. Support for Middle Creek Restoration Project — no funding requested
No funding was associated with this recommendation, but it guaranteed support from the BRC to the Middle Creek Restoration coalition and Committee to maintain progress of this important restoration project in a high-impact area of Clear Lake.
Proposed Projects for 2022 Committee Recommendations
In this section I will share with you the list of proposed projects going before the Blue Ribbon Committee at the next Meeting on September 23rd, 2021 at 1 pm. You can access that meeting via Zoom, and the meeting log in information and agenda is available at this link.
I will not go into detail about each of these projects because they are still being discussed and refined by the applicants, along with the costs. There is a very nice summary for each project, including proposed budgets, timelines, tasks, and description included in the meeting materials online at the BRC webpage.
If you recall from my Part 1, I identified the two sub-committees established to help focus and refine the most relevant projects and topics for the whole BRC to review, discuss, and recommend for funding.
The two sub-committees have been working hard over the summer to identify and plan projects that are very-much needed to study or improve both water quality in Clear Lake and Clear Lake economy. The projects are up for discussion and potential approval during the next meeting, with specific focus on “near-term” projects. These “near-term” projects are defined as projects that have high priority (i.e. satisfy an unmet need), can be initiated immediately, and can be met within a short time frame of less than five years from start.
Members within the two committees will be given time to present their projects and encourage discussion and interest from the large BRC, with the ultimate goal of getting their projects fully or partially funded.
Technical Subcommittee Project Proposals September 2021
Below is a list of the proposed projects and the agencies or organizations bringing them before the BRC. Details on each proposed near-term technical subcommittee project are provided by clicking here.
1. Kelsey Creek Fish Passage — Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians; 2. Tule Replanting / Invasive Vegetation Removal — Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians; 3. Lake County Storm Water Infrastructure and Program Improvement — County of Lake Water Resources Department; 4. Trash Removal - County of Lake Water Resources Department; 5. Derelict Structure Abatement - County of Lake Water Resources Department; 6. Mercury Monitoring - UC Davis TERC and USGS. 7. *Added* Airborne Electromagnetic (AEM) Survey of Scotts Valley Groundwater Basin - Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians and County of Lake Water Resources.
Socioeconomic Subcommittee project proposals September 2021
Below is a list of the proposed projects and agencies or organizations bringing them before the BRC. Details on each proposed near-term socioeconomic project are provided by clicking here.
1. Clear Lake Environmental Education Roundtable (CLEER) — UC Davis Team (Center for Regional Change, TERC, Center for Community and Citizen Science); 2. Research Lab Concept — Jim Steele, former District 3 supervisor; 3. Environmental Education Resources and Program Support for Citizen and Community Science at Clear Lake — UC Davis Team; 4. Citizen Science — Promoting Citizen and Community Science through the Development and Piloting of a Participatory Environmental Monitoring app — UC Davis Center for Community and Citizen Science and TERC; 5. Program Evaluation to Enhance Environmental Programs for Clear Lake — UC Davis Center For Regional Change; 6. Cobb Mountain Clear Lake Watershed Education and Stewardship Program (WEP) for community leaders / volunteers — Cobb Area Council; 7. Scientific Research and Environmental Education Capacity Building in Lake County — Clear Lake Environmental Research Center.
Most of the socioeconomic proposed projects address an important missing link in watershed, lake and land science here in Lake County. Basically, we just can’t only study and manage the lake itself, we have to study the land and space surrounding the lake and how we use that land responsibly. We need to teach ourselves how we can be better caretakers of the beautiful natural world, and we learn that in many different ways, but mostly through our educational tenure, as children to young adults.
The majority of the socioeconomic project proposals address this component; increasing and refining the knowledge base around Clear Lake that will lead to the future generations being responsible lake and land stewards.
What does all this mean for lake management?
A) As a lake manager, the ultimate measure of success when managing any lake simplistically boils down to a few things: B) An understanding of the system - through monitoring; C) Identification of any problem(s) - through analysing the monitoring data; D) Implementation of an appropriate management strategy or tool - if needed, to fix the problem (s). E) Evaluation to identify if the problem is being corrected — through more monitoring and analysis. F) Public understanding and support of this entire process.
If an identified “problem” is not improving, we do even more monitoring and analysis, then tweak or adjust our strategy or tool (or sometimes, try something else) and monitor and reevaluate until we can explain what we are observing.
Basically, lake managers, like all scientists, rely heavily on monitoring and evaluation of any imposed strategy to determine if what we are doing is helping or hurting the system or the expected outcome we desire.
This whole process is actually called adaptive management and it's cyclical, continuous, and iterative. The process of Adaptive Management in Clear Lake will probably never end because conditions and influencing factors are constantly changing as are the way we manage. The availability of new technology to improve monitoring through enhanced detection capabilities and the accessibility and availability of management resources and tools to respond to problems also adds loops to this cycle.
Unfortunately, there is no magic bullet — or, to reference my namesake — there is no magic “excalibur” sword for improving Clear Lake. There is not one machine, not one tool, not one policy, or one method that can be done, even with gobs of money, that will easily and quickly “correct” or “fix” Clear Lake. There just isn’t — or else it would be in play right now here, in Lake Erie, in Lake Okeechobee and many others across the country and across the globe.
To solve the problems we observe in Clear Lake it will take many complex and interwoven solutions, tools, strategies, and constant, consistent evaluation and monitoring. Not to mention, this effort will deserve more realistic expectations from the public and it’s funders considering the complexity and how long it might take and how expensive it might be.
The efforts of the BRC, and partners and collaborators, supported approach to study, monitor, manage, and evaluate the systems within and around the lake, combined with community involvement and engagement promoted through environmental education and stewardship will provide for the broad but clear understanding and responsibility we have for this unique aquatic system and the technical and intellectual value that it both requires and provides.
I would encourage the BRC, and the Natural Resources Agency, to commit to a long-term involvement in these approaches and remain integrated with us in Lake County, as we chug through the adaptive management cycle - perhaps several times. Previous temporal and temporary patches of research and management recommendations have largely remained unfulfilled which has resulted in a precarious and sometimes compromised lake water quality, with devastating cumulative impacts more realized right now than ever before.
For example, this last week Lake County saw some of the highest recorded cyanobacterial toxin concentrations ever seen in Clear Lake (160,377 ug/L at Redbud Park ramp). Public health alerts went out notifying the County that about 280 homes with individual, private intakes that their drinking water was unsafe if not dangerous to drink.
Alternate water filling stations were established to provide safe drinking water from state-regulated and monitored treatment plants nearby. Note that this alert did not apply to water distributed from any of the 18 large, public or privatized treatment districts, systems, or operators on Clear Lake. Thanks to the monitoring efforts by Big Valley EPA and the Cal WATCH Program, quick communications and solutions were rapidly established.
This scenario, of course exacerbated by the occurrence of drought, low water levels and high heats, is an extreme burden, put onto a community that is already burdened. Droughts and extreme conditions are only expected to keep occurring, which is going to have an unpredictable but significant impact on Clear Lake and her communities.
When it comes to lake management, it’s known that solutions and results take time to implement, evaluate, and improve upon. I hope the BRC continues their efforts, maybe even indefinitely, to make sure that Clear Lake ecologic and economic systems are given the right opportunity and appropriate resources to improve and enough time to evaluate their success. I think the largest freshwater lake in California deserves that, at least.
Sincerely, Lady of the Lake
Angela De Palma-Dow is a limnologist (limnology = study of fresh inland waters) who lives and works in Lake County. Born in Northern California, she has a Master of Science from Michigan State University. She is a Certified Lake Manager from the North American Lake Management Society, or NALMS, and she is the current president/chair of the California chapter of the Society for Freshwater Science. She can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Supriya Chakrabarti, University of Massachusetts Lowell
It seems like every week, another rocket is launched into space carrying rovers to Mars, tourists or, most commonly, satellites. The idea that “space is getting crowded” has been around for a few years now, but just how crowded is it? And how crowded is it going to get?
I am a professor of physics and director of the Center for Space Science and Technology at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. Many satellites that were put into orbit have gone dead and burned up in the atmosphere, but thousands remain. Groups that track satellite launches don’t always report the same exact numbers, but the overall trend is clear – and astounding.
Since the Soviet Union launched Sputnik – the first human-made satellite – in 1957, humanity has steadily been putting more and more objects into orbit every year. Over the the second half of the 20th century, there was a slow but steady growth, with roughly 60 to 100 satellites launched yearly until the early 2010s.
But since then, the pace has been increasing dramatically.
By 2020, 114 launches carried around 1,300 satellites to space, surpassing the 1,000 new satellites per year mark for the first time. But no year in the past compares to 2021. As of Sept. 16, roughly 1,400 new satellites have already begun circling the Earth, and that will only increase as the year goes on. Just this week, SpaceX deployed another 51 Starlink satellites into orbit.
Small satellites, easy access to orbit
There are two main reasons for this exponential growth. First, it has never been easier to get a satellite into space. For example, on Aug. 29, 2021, a SpaceX rocket carried several satellites – including one built by my students – to the International Space Station. On Oct. 11, 2021, these satellites will deploy into orbit, and the number of satellites will increase again.
The second reason is that rockets can carry more satellites more easily – and cheaply – than ever before. This increase isn’t due to rockets getting more powerful. Rather, satellites have gotten smaller thanks to the electronics revolution. The vast majority – 94% – of all spacecraft launched in 2020 were smallsats – satellites that weigh less than around 1,320 pounds (600 kilograms).
The majority of these satellites are used for observing Earth or for communications and internet. With a goal of bringing the internet to underserved areas of the globe, two private companies, Starlink by SpaceX and OneWeb together launched almost 1,000 smallsats in 2020 alone. They are each planning to launch more than 40,000 satellites in the coming years to create what are called “mega-constellations” in low-Earth orbit.
Every disruptive technological advancement requires updates to the rules – or the creation of new ones. SpaceX has tested ways to lower the impact of Starlink constellations, and Amazon has disclosed plans to de-orbit their satellites within 355 days after mission completion. These and other actions by different stakeholders make me hopeful that commerce, science and human endeavors will find sustainable solutions to this potential crisis.
[The Conversation’s science, health and technology editors pick their favorite stories.Weekly on Wednesdays.]
It’s the next best thing to being on Mars: Two online interactive experiences let you check out Jezero Crater — the landing site and exploration locale for NASA’s Perseverance rover — without leaving our planet.
One new experience, called “Explore with Perseverance,” allows you to follow along with the rover as though you were standing on the surface of Mars. Another interactive — “Where Is Perseverance?” — shows the current location of the rover and Ingenuity Mars Helicopter as they explore the Red Planet.
It’s updated after every drive and flight and allows you to track the progress of Perseverance and Ingenuity, in their journeys on and above the Red Planet.
“It’s the best reconstruction available of what Mars looks like,” said Parker Abercrombie, a senior software engineer who is leading the software development at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
The agency’s Mars Public Engagement team recruited Abercrombie and his colleagues, who work on similar tools for the mission team, to develop a public-friendly experience by stitching together and reconstructing the Perseverance and HiRISE images.
The team plans to update the site regularly with new views from the spacecraft and the rover and some new points of interest, as they are found. For example, said Abercrombie, “we can highlight scientifically interesting rocks and other features, or the Ingenuity helicopter flight locations.”
Abercrombie believes the site will help people understand the perspective as if they were on Mars. “It’s sometimes hard for people to grasp location and distance from Mars images. It’s not like here on Earth, where you can get your bearings by looking at trees and buildings. With the Martian terrain, it can be really hard to wrap your head around what you’re seeing.”
The dashboard makes it easy for parents and teachers to share the 3D views with kids, bringing them along as Perseverance explores.
The 3D tool is based on the Advanced Science Targeting Tool for Robotic Operations, or ASTTRO, that the rover’s science team uses to select interesting targets for the rover to study — but has been modified to make it more user-friendly.
“It’s a unique challenge to set things up so people can browse in a way they’ll understand, since users have varying experiences in using 3D environments,” Abercrombie said. “This is a great opportunity for the public to follow along with the mission, using the same type of visualization tools as the mission scientists.”
The Curiosity mission has a similar experience built by the same team.
A Mars map of the rover and helicopter journeys
“The Where Is Perseverance? map allows you to see more of what we’re doing and where we’re going,” said JPL Mapping Specialist Fred Calef.
It, too, is based on ASTTRO, and Calef notes that you’ll get the data almost as fast as the engineers and scientists do. Plus, you’re using practically the same software the team uses, “so everyone can explore the way we explore in almost the same way,” Calef said, zooming in, zooming out, and panning around.
The map shows the rover’s route and its stopping points with markers indicating the Martian day, or sol, and you’ll get the overview of where Perseverance and Ingenuity might head next. Terrain maps like this one allow scientists to spot interesting places to look for possible evidence of ancient life, and you’ll be able to share in the journey.
When Ingenuity flies, it’s usually a burst of activity and then a lull for a couple of weeks. The rover, said Calef, “drives more often, though not as far, traveling around 130 meters [142 yards] on its longest drive (sol) to date. When we find a geologically interesting spot, we’ll stop for a week or so to check it out.”
A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).
Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.
The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA’s Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.
JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Due to an offshore weather system that could bring high winds on Monday, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said it may need to shut off power to 14,000 customers in 13 counties across Northern California, including Lake County.
The company said its meteorologists continue to monitor a potential weather system that could bring dry offshore winds to parts of the company’s service area beginning Monday morning.
Due to the wind event, combined with extreme to exceptional drought and extremely dry vegetation, PG&E began sending advance notifications to the customers where it may implement a public safety power shutoff Monday morning in portions of the North Coast and North Bay.
Shutoffs in the Northern Sierra foothills and Kern County could begin Monday afternoon, depending on the timing of the wind event, PG&E said.
PG&E said it activated its Emergency Operations Center on Friday to support this weather event.
PG&E said it notified 756 customers, including 65 Medical Baseline customers, in Lake County of the potential shutoff.
The Lake County customers expected to be impacted are in areas north and east of Clearlake Oaks, east of Lower Lake, and south of Cobb and Middletown, as shown in the map above.
PG&E estimated that power in those areas will be shut off between 4 and 6 a.m., and be restored by 10 p.m. Monday.
Potentially affected customers in other counties are as follows:
Butte County: 2,735 customers, 248 Medical Baseline customers; Colusa County: 567 customers, 36 Medical Baseline customers; Glenn County: 376 customers, 21 Medical Baseline customers; Kern County: 674 customers, 35 Medical Baseline customers; Mendocino County: 13 customers, 4 Medical Baseline customers; Napa County: 1,584 customers, 70 Medical Baseline customers; Santa Barbara County: 19 customers, 1 Medical Baseline customer; Shasta County: 3,166 customers, 294 Medical Baseline customers; Solano County: 802 customers, 56 Medical Baseline customers; Sonoma County: 1,241 customers, 47 Medical Baseline customer; Tehama County: 2,270 customers, 177 Medical Baseline customers; Yolo County: 20 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers.
The impacted customers and the numbers could change as the company adjusts its plans in response to conditions.
Customers can also look up their address online to find out if their location is being monitored for the potential safety shutoff at www.pge.com/pspsupdates.
During a PSPS, PG&E offers support to customers by opening Community Resource Centers with snacks, water and other essential items; partnering with community-based organizations to assist customers with medical and independent living needs; and continuing to update our customers on power restoration status.
Two Community Resource Centers are planned in Lake County, one at the Live Oaks Senior Center, 12502 Foothill Blvd, Clearlake Oaks, and the other at Twin Pine Casino and Hotel, 22223 Highway 29, Middletown.
The two centers will be open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday and Tuesday.
They will offer blankets, snacks and water, device charging, ADA-accessible restrooms and washing station, seating, small medical device charging and wifi.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — A Clearlake man has been convicted of arson and sentenced to state prison.
Charles William Cartwright, 54, was convicted of and sentenced for committing felony arson on Monday, Sept. 13, said Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff.
Cal Fire Arson Investigator Joe Baldwin and other Cal Fire personnel responded to a vegetation fire that occurred on July 23 at 7:30 p.m. in the area of Ogulin Canyon Road near the City of Clearlake, according to investigation reports by Cal Fire.
The fire was limited to less than a half acre of grass and oak trees as a result of successful fire suppression efforts by Cal Fire, including the use of a helicopter.
Because the fire was in a wooded grassy area between Clearlake and the Landrum Ranch area of Highway 20, it had the potential to become a serious wildland fire, officials said.
Upon arrival, Cal Fire firefighters found a dehydrated “hiker” in the area, and assisted him medically. Investigator Baldwin initially interviewed Cartwright, who stated he did not start the fire and had nothing with which to start a fire.
Baldwin then interviewed other fire personnel who were initially on the scene to gather further information.
The helicopter pilot and another fire captain advised Baldwin that when they arrived, Cartwright was lying in the grass next to the fire.
Other fire personnel reported that when they rendered assistance to Cartwright, he admitted he started the fire.
Cartwright stated that he had become lost after hiking all day and did not have water, and was afraid he could not make it back to town.
He told authorities he set the fire to signal for help so he could get back to town. Cartwright advised that he lived in the homeless encampment behind Foods, Etc.
Cartwright was charged with arson of forest land for intentionally starting the fire, and with recklessly starting a fire of forest land, Hinchcliff said.
Hinchcliff said that on Aug. 16, Cartwright pleaded no contest to arson for intentionally starting the fire.
On Monday, Judge David J. Markham sentenced Cartwright to six years in state prison, Hinchcliff said.
Hinchcliff said the conviction also qualifies as a “strike” if Cartwright commits any felonies in the future.
Cartwright will also be required to register as an arson offender for his lifetime, Hinchcliff reported.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Lake County Public Health on Thursday offered more information as well as clarification on an urgent advisory issued the previous night regarding drinking water taken from Clear Lake through private intakes.
On Wednesday night, Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Pace issued the following statement: “Effective immediately, people on private water systems whose tap water comes from their own private intake into the lake, in the Oaks Arm and Lower Arm of Clear Lake should not drink the water. Very high levels of cyanotoxin have been identified in these areas of the lake, and we are concerned there may be health impacts if private water systems are not effectively filtering out these toxins.”
On Thursday, Lake County Special Districts Administration, the drinking water provider for many Lake County residents, offered clarification on the advisory.
“This does not apply to public [or large privately-owned and professionally managed] water systems using Clear Lake as a raw water source,” Special Districts said.
“Public Water Systems have multifaceted treatment processes in place to effectively treat for cyanotoxins and provide safe water for consumption and use. Additionally, all 18 public water systems on the lake regularly test the raw and treated water for Microcystins and report to the State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water,” the agency said.
Special Districts urged community members to contact their public water systems if they wanted more information on those test results.
Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians’ Environmental Protection Department recently sampled 50 of the 280 private systems that are drawing water directly from the lake in the Oaks and Lower Arms of Clear Lake. Participation was voluntary.
Ninety percent of tested tap water from those that participated showed amounts of cyanotoxin above the safe drinking water level advised by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
This was before the recent very significant rise in toxins, so cyanotoxin levels in these private systems are likely much higher now, officials said.
The county said there is no easy fix if you are getting your water in this way; boiling or putting chemicals in the lake or tap water does not eliminate the toxins.
Many county residents have shared questions and concerns, here are some answers to frequently asked questions.
Who is affected by the health advisory?
If you live in the Oaks or Lower Arms of Clear Lake and you do not receive a regular water bill from a public water system, the advisory to avoid drinking tap water very likely applies to you.
If you are on a public water system, your tap water goes through a multifaceted treatment process, and testing to date has shown it is safe to drink; contact your water provider with specific questions.
If you are outside of the areas of the Oaks and Lower Arms, and you have a private intake that draws water directly from Clear Lake, the current advisory does not apply to you.
Due to current conditions, the advisory may go on for weeks. Lake water is tested every two weeks (next sampling will be conducted Sept. 21, but it takes time to get the results. The county will inform people when test results show safer levels of cyanotoxins.
What uses of affected tap water should I avoid?
Do not drink or cook with water that contains high levels of cyanotoxins. Boiling the water does not help, nor does adding anything to your tap water. Please do not add any chemicals or other treatment to Clear Lake.
Showering with affected water is thought to be okay, as long as none is swallowed (ingested). Cyanotoxins can be more dangerous for children under six years of age, so please educate and monitor your young children to not swallow any tap water.
Even lower levels of toxins can cause harm to pets; it is strongly recommended to keep pets out of and away from lake water in the Oaks and Lower Arms of Clear Lake. Do not allow pets to drink water directly from Clear Lake, especially where cyanotoxins are known to be present.
Is my private (groundwater) well impacted by these toxins?
So far, no sampled wells, even when located close to the lake, have tested positive for cyanotoxins. Well water is cool and dark, not the ideal habitat for toxin-producing cyanobacteria and they are unlikely to grow in wells.
Do you believe you or a family member may have ingested water affected by cyanotoxins?
Alternative filling stations are being established for the homes (280, in total) affected by this Water Advisory. Affected property owners will be informed of available alternatives, as they are established.
Why are we seeing such high levels of cyanotoxins?
Recent high cyanotoxin levels are believed to be related to persistent heat and low water levels due to the drought.
How do harmful algal blooms affect recreation on Clear Lake?
Recommendations differ based on the level of toxins present. Maps produced by Big Valley Rancheria use arrows mirroring the colors associated with different levels of concern.
At any given time, there are many areas of Clear Lake that are safe to use for swimming and other recreational purposes.
Helpful Spanish and English language graphics can be found here.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — During Child Passenger Safety Week, Sept. 19 through 25, the California Highway Patrol will educate the public on the importance of ensuring children are riding in a properly fitted and installed child passenger safety seat.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, car crashes are the leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 13.
In 2020, 90 children aged 13 and under died as a result of car crashes in California.
The NHTSA reports that while most parents and caregivers are confident they have correctly installed their child’s safety seat, when checked almost half (46%) are found to be installed incorrectly.
California law requires all children under the age of 2, or weighing under 40 pounds and under 40 inches tall, ride in a rear-facing car seat. All children under the age of 8 must ride in the back seat in an age-appropriate safety seat. Safety experts recommend children ride in the back seat until the age of 13.
“Proper use of child safety seats can mean the difference between life and death,” CHP Commissioner Amanda Ray said. “Our child passenger safety technicians can assist you in ensuring your most precious cargo arrives safely.”
At all CHP child safety seat events throughout the week, child passenger safety technicians will provide free safety seat inspections, education, and hands-on training for parents and caregivers.
These free safety seat inspections are also available year-round, by appointment, at any CHP Area office.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Two water companies are supporting local and state officials in assisting Lake County residents who are being affected by a health advisory related to their private drinking water intakes.
On Wednesday evening, approximately 280 properties in the Oaks and Lower Arms of Clear Lake that use a personal, private intake to draw their household water directly from the lake were advised by Public Health officials not to consume their tap water, due to high cyanotoxin levels.
Thanks to the swift and collaborative efforts of local officials, local water systems such as Golden State Water and Mt. Konocti Mutual Water Co., and the State Water Resources Control Board, alternative filling stations have been established to provide potable, drinkable water to the affected property owners:
• Fill station for houses in the blue zone: 10680 Lakeshore Drive, Clearlake: provided by Golden State Water Co., 1-800-999-4033;
• Fill station for houses in the red zone: 4980 Hawaina Way, Kelseyville: provided by Mt. Konocti Mutual Water Co., 707-277-7466. There will be a sign that reads, "Potable Water.”
Water availability begins Saturday at noon and is strictly limited to property owners affected by the health advisory.
This water is intended to meet very basic household needs (e.g., drinking, cooking), please limit to 25 gallons per week per household.
The treatment process and testing are designed to ensure that the water delivered to our customers meets all water quality standards. The finished water has been tested and meets health guidelines for cyanotoxins.
Once the water leaves the point of connection, the Water Systems can no longer guarantee that the water continues to be free of contamination. Individuals should bring their own clean containers that are meant for food or beverage storage.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Bay Area authorities are reaching out to residents of several Northern California counties, including Lake, as they seek additional victims in a sex crimes case involving a Kelseyville man.
In August, the Brentwood Police Department in Contra Costa County initiated an investigation in which Matthew Pelton, 48, was accused of sex crimes involving children.
On Sept. 7, Pelton was indicted on federal manufacturing child pornography charges, officials said.
In addition to Lake County, Pelton also has been associated with the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa and Sacramento.
Based on information revealed in the investigation, Brentwood Police said there is evidence to suggest there may be more victims who have yet to come forward.
The Brentwood Police Department is requesting anyone with information or potential victims to contact Det. Talley at 925-809-7793.