San Justo

[CN]

I heard a few rumor's that they are going to drain San Justo becouse of the Mussel's they found there.Anybody else hear this???

If so what are they going to do with all the Bass in there.Dont seem right to transport them to another Lake couldnt they transport the Mussel's that way also??

Sad very sad.

[Skeeterman]

Sounds like the wrong thing to do not just losing the bass but to me if they drain the lake seems to me some of the mussels will go down the river spreading the mussels even more.

[Greg_Cornish]

If so what are they going to do with all the Bass in there.

Probably bring em up to 140 degrees then release em.

[Tin Can]

I hope they don't drain it and kill all the monsters in that place. I'd love to get in there right now and fish it. Those fish haven't seen any lures in a while.

[CN]

I hope they don't drain it and kill all the monsters in that place. I'd love to get in there right now and fish it. Those fish haven't seen any lures in a while.

No doubt but I dont think you can even fish off the bank can you.With all this stuff going on I was shocked how easy it was to get on Clear Lake a few week's ago.

[Tin Can]

I hope they don't drain it and kill all the monsters in that place. I'd love to get in there right now and fish it. Those fish haven't seen any lures in a while.

No doubt but I dont think you can even fish off the bank can you.With all this stuff going on I was shocked how easy it was to get on Clear Lake a few week's ago.

Clear lake simply does not care. It's pretty obvious.

San Justo is completely closed, even to bank fishing. They should have just closed it to boating.

[lmartinez]

its sucks if they drain san justo i live in watsoville and it was one of my favorite lakes there is lots of big fish in there len

[Tin Can]

its sucks if they drain san justo i live in watsoville and it was one of my favorite lakes there is lots of big fish in there len

Mine too. We still have pinto. lol That place pisses me off. Every time I think I have something figured out the next day it's like the dead sea.

[procraftrob]

Yah Ive heard they were gonna drain it, but I dont know were the water is gonna go.

[CN]

Yah Ive heard they were gonna drain it, but I dont know were the water is gonna go.

The water is pumped in from San Luis and is then pumped out to San Benito and Santa Clara County I believe.

They will just pump it out without re-filling it.I guess there thought is to let it sit and dry for some period of time hopeing it will kill the Mussel's.

Very sad to see this happen this was a Jewel of a Lake.The big bait guy's would of had fun here.

[Tin Can]

The big bait guy's would of had fun here.

Some of them did. I would always see a few guys out chucking big baits. One guy who worked at the little store was a swimbait guy and would tell me how he was going to break the lake record. I guess he won't have his chance now.

[davetNitro]

I caught a number of very large fish, with very large baits, in that pond, very sad situation

like this:



and this:

[Tin Can]

Very nice!

[lmartinez]

nice justo bass i have caught fish up to 8lb at san justo and lots of good fish bankin it there too i remember that spot in your pic too lost lots of worm setups in that area len

[procraftrob]

[/img]

Heres a few.

[RogerB]

*NM*

[RogerB]

*NM*

[RogerB]

The staff report to the San Benito County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday apparently recommended a lowering of the lake level (not complete draining) to reduce the volume of water in which liquid potash would be used to eradicate the mussels. The potash can cause a complete kill of zebra mussels in about 48 hrs. Unfortunately, zebra mussels can close their shells for extended periods to protect themselves from chemical attack.

I'm obtaining an audio recording of the meeting, and a PowerPoint presentation by the Bureau of Reclamation used during the report, and will provide a summary report here soonest.

Bad news is that the closure of San Justo will apparently extend well into 2009.

Stay tuned...

RogerB

[procraftrob]

At least some progress is being made in the right direction, I heard that doing this wont kill the fish in the lake.

[RogerB]

Right, Rob. Potash is commonly used as a fertilizer in ponds and apparently won't harm the fish. It's also hoped that draining some of the water out of the lake will expose a lot of the mussels that apparently remain in the shallower zones of the lake. While they can tolerate a few days out of the water, an extended period of exposure can also kill them.

[RogerB]

On Thursday, July 22, there was a report to the San Benito County Board of Supervisors by the multi-agency task force (federal, state, and county agencies) working on the mussel infestation of San Justo Reservoir.

Overall strategy is to control the infestation this year; eradicate the mussels next year.

Priority is water use for agricultural and municipal needs. Recreational use is secondary.

Basic approach for eradicating the mussels is to lower the lake level (short of completely draining it) and then apply potash (potassium chloride) at a proper concentration to kill the mussels but not be harmful to other organisms (fish, birds, vegetation, etc.). If the potash were to be applied with the lake full, it would cost millions of dollars. By lowering the lake level, the cost of potash application can be reduced to the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Since the water in the lake is valuable ($200 per acre foot and there are 7500 acre feet when the lake is full, so the water is worth $1,500,000), the lowering of the lake must be coordinated with the seasonal needs of the water for agricultural purposes so it is not wasted.

A water district consultant is developing a detailed, coordinated Work Plan for dealing with all issues simultaneously, including water allocations, protecting the resource for the future, eradicating the mussels, minimizing migration downstream, minimizing traffic impact caused by potash delivery trucks, and concerns that areas exposed by dropping lake levels where there are leakages are also addressed and leakages repaired.

Time line is 1) completion of environmental assessment of use of potash this fall 2) Soliciting bids for the potash and its application; 3) Award the contract for application of potash; 4) Apply the potash in April or May 2009, but may be later; 5) Allow 45 days for potash to work on eradicating the mussels; 6) Do testing to ensure the mussels have been eradicated (or mostly so); 7) then, if it was successful, the lake could be opened again for recreational use, maybe by the fall of 2009.

Further info about the mussel infestations in California is at www.dfg.ca.gov/invasives/quaggamussel/

[jimmy87]

good.
about time I hear somthing about taking care of the problem intead of doom and gloom.
The mussell is easily killed with a water/chlorine mixture accoring to DFG.
questionalbe boats could just be hosed down and have the bilge flushed with it.
this crap about being sent back home due to a drop of water is BULL turds.
We need to come up with answers to the problem.

[RogerB]

Right, Jimmy.
One of the supervisors spoke up on behalf of his boat-owning constituents in San Benito County who were dismayed by not being allowed to use their boats in other countys' waters just because they were registered in San Benito County. One of the agency reps stated that he had heard the issue had been resolved with Santa Clara County and that now San Benito County registered boats were being allowed on waters in Santa Clara County...but he wasn't sure of that.

It was noted as a jurisdictional issue. since no one agency has the authority to solve the problem which stems from multiple counties and water agencies who have jurisdiction over various bodies of water.

However, the supervisor rightly answered that by saying it was time for a state agency to "step up to the plate" and solve the problem so recreational boaters who have made a substantial investment in their boats were not denied the use of their boats in other county/water agency waters within the state.

[jimmy87]

far as I know camanche and pardee are still not allowing boats from santa clara county, south of there, and I think out of state on the water period. They are not even allowed to be inspected.