New ideas for quagga mussel management

[swimbait]

If you started at square one with the quagga/zebra mussel issue, what would you do? If dollars were limited but options weren't - how would you spend the money? Here's a few thoughts.

1. Protect the most valuable water assets.

Of course all water is valuable. If 10,000 customers drink from a small lake it's not right to say that those people are less important than the 1,000,000 that drink from a larger lake. But common sense says to expend more energy to protect the large supplies. Common sense also says to protect lakes that are upstream from large lakes and water bodies. Large lakes and water bodies in CA are places like:

The CA Delta
Shasta
Clear Lake
Tahoe
Oroville
Don Pedro
McClure
New Melones
Isabella
Diamond Valley
Nacimiento
San Antonio
Trinity
Pardee

There are more, this is just a flavor.

2. Protect valuable biological areas

As I've pointed out in other posts, most man-made lakes are filled with non-native species to the point where protecting against mussels is somewhat absurd from a biodiversity standpoint. You're protecting something that is already a soup bowl of "invasive" species. Where it does make sense to protect native species is in large natural lakes and water bodies with unique species. That means places like:

Clear Lake
Tahoe
The CA Delta
Lakes upstream from rivers that still harbor native fish species

Again, just a flavor.

3. Protect through education

Here's a radical idea that has been pinging around in my head this week. What if the DFG offered online courses for invasive species with exams for boaters (like a driving exam)? For people who couldn't get online, in-person courses could be offered. On completing the course, the boater would get a sticker for their vessels that would be good for as long as that boater owns that vessel.

To account for future sales of the vessel, the sticker would be printed with the individual's name on it. This would allow for spot checking of name on the invasive species sticker vs. registered owner. This sticker would be universal across the state and anyone out of state could get one as well by simply taking the course and passing the test. The test should be fairly easy and more designed to build awareness than to trick people or cause them to fail the test.

My theory is that people who are educated about invasive species are unlikely to transport them. The sticker also makes it very easy for lakes to check boats as they come in.

4. Develop a tiered protection model

Rank bodies of water on a 1 to 3 scale.

1's would be small water bodies that are not municipal water supplies and that have no significant biodiversity in the lake or downstream. This would be places like Rancho Seco, Shadow Cliffs, etc.

2's would be small to medium sized water bodies that provide water to people but have little biodiversity impact. This would be places like Poway, Dixon, Puddingstone, Del Valle, Santa Margarita, and Castaic. These would be locations with very few launch ramps and access points. These locations are the easy to guard locations.

3's would be the big lakes and water bodies with significant biodiversity and human water use. 3's could also include upstream locations like Blue Lakes (drains to Clear Lake). These locations will include both easy to guard and difficult to guard locations.

5. Protect based on the tiered system

1's - Invasive species sticker only. Post large signs at the lake entrances indicating that the sticker is required. Do not require physical inspection of the sticker. In other words, allow people to go enter the waterway at any time even if no person is available to inspect. State agents like DFG and police as well as local lake authorities like park rangers are authorized to issue large fines for any vessel with no sticker.

2's - Invasive species sticker required with physical validation of the sticker. Boaters arriving at the lake will be shown a list of "infected" waters on arrival and verbally asked if they have been to any of those locations in the last 30 days. If yes the boat will be inspected. If no, there will be no inspection. The number of boats requiring inspection under this system will be small which means less staffing for inspections.

3's - Managing mussels on the large lakes poses the biggest dilemma. They are the most valuable in terms of biodiversity and human dependence but also the most difficult to protect. Given these challenges I would propose that they fall under the same rules as tier 1 locations. Sticker required, large signs at all ramps, no physical validation of the sticker at launch. Large fines for being caught with no sticker. This is far more than is being done now at most (but not all) of these locations.

6. Protect the state against invasive species lawsuits

Legislation should be passed that releases and indemnifies the state of CA against lawsuits from water districts. As was seen at Casitas, the water boards have threatened to sue the state for remediation if the state can't guarantee protection against invasive species. Therefore the state needs protection that allows a universal invasive species management plan but removes liability from the state if an invasive specie does get in to a lake and cause remediation costs.

7. Distribute costs equitably

Since the program is state wide, all recreation areas with pay-to-launch facilities should pay in to the system. The payments should be on a per-boat basis for equal distribution. Assuming there are millions of boat launches per year in CA, millions of dollars could be generated through a nominal fee of $1 to $2. If done right, the collective cost of a single program should be substantially less than the costs incurred by individual water districts running their own programs.

Holes in the Plan

1. The invasive species sticker plan relies on an honor system. Some people could be lazy about getting water out of their boat when traveling from lake to lake. Some people may even intentionally transport invasive species between lakes. Although there have been no documented cases of people being caught intentionally transporting mussels, it is a possibility. The thing is that even with boat inspections in place, someone who is out to break the law could just move the mussels in a container in their vehicle. So arguing that vessel inspections prevent intentional introduction is stupid.

2. There would be substantial up-front cost to issue the invasive species stickers and set up signage around the state.

3. Out-of-state boaters may not come to CA to go boating as frequently with the new rules. This effect could be limited over time as people learn the system.

4. Devising a state wide plan is politically and legally difficult to enact. Particularly the legal side of things. The state simply must be protected against lawsuits.

5. The state in general has a reputation for being inept. So getting large, politically powerful water districts like MWD to participate in the plan would be challenging.

Benefits of the Plan

1. A universal system allows boaters the confidence to go to the lake knowing that they will be able to launch that day, even if it's rainy. This will bring boating revenues back to a normal, pre-inspection level.

2. Lake use fees that have risen due to inspections could be lowered which would further increase boating.

3. Fishing and usage pressure on locations that don't inspect would diminish as people go back to the places they used to fish and recreate at. The big example is the CA Delta, which has been extremely busy in the past few years despite poor largemouth bass fishing.

4. Revenue saved on inspectors and additional staff at tier 1 and 2 lakes could be used to improve lake facilities and fishing. Santa Clara County's Valley Water District (for example) reported that they got a $250,000 state grant to deal with mussels. Just imagine what $250,000 could do to improve fish habitat, stock fish, improve facilities, or clean up trash.


Your thoughts or contributions?

[Ringer]

8. Recognize that a good percentage of citizens diregard the laws they don't particularly like so there is no positive contribution from any "honor" based system. It only takes one boat to contaminate a lake.

9. Understand that man has never been able to prevent the spread of an "invasive species" before and they will have zero long term success with this one.

10. Let the water industry police their own business and develop methods of keeping pipes and valves clear and pass that cost on to the end user. Don't push the entire problem off on the fishing and boating community.

I am amazed that you guys have an industry sprouting up around this issue and have to put up with all of this regulation when the biologists know that it will do absolutely no good in preventing the spread. You can bet that every lake in California with the proper host habitat has the little buggers growing in it right now. Call me a skeptic but that is my take on this boondoggle.

[Robert F]

Ringer is right.
People see that others have an easier path to follow and they just get in that line. You will not have an effective plan that is discriminatory. If inspection is necessary then inspect. If education is effective then educate. Just make sure all boaters have the same rules and you will not have people jumping lines and cheating the system. It seems that the education needs to start at the enforcement level. Are bassboats really the culprit? I have not seen one case of day use boater contamination. All waters that have these invaders have been infected by water distribution or moored boats, houseboats and freighters, carrying adult mussels. Why all the fuss about us? Because we have more wallets they can pick.

[rexford]

I admit that I do not know much about how destructive these little
guys can be. I just can't get over the fact that we would even
consider an attempt at halting the spread. Even if we closed
every single lake could we guarantee positive results? The
inspections are a waste of time and money in my opinion. At
best it might slow the process down but at what cost?

I would rather see the effort towards finding a solution to
protecting the plumbing against their inevitable arrival.

[BassManDan]

Good thought-provoking read.

All I can say is there's lots to consider

[BigBoy]

Anyone think maybe there already in the lake? I heard years ago some of the houses sewage went right into Clear Lake. After they started the mussel plan 2 years ago and last year we had that toxic algae bloom which smelled like sewage....maybe they are already have them there??????????????????????????????

[skeeter zx202c]

A while back at a seminar, I asked Skeet what they (the real professionals) were doing about the quagga and he really didn't know what I was talking about. Those guys travel from state to state all the time and he did not know. You would think that BASS would have at least brought the "stars" of the profession up to date.