Santa Barbara County Supervisors are being asked to consider closing Lake Cachuma to private boats in an effort to keep the waterway free from a non-native freshwater mussel that if introduced could wreak havoc on the lake's ecosystem and drinking water infrastructure.

County officials received the request to close the lake to private boats from the Cachuma Operations and Maintenance Board (COMB), which consists of South Coast agencies that receive water from Lake Cachuma.

The board of supervisors will discuss this and other items at a meeting Tuesday in the Betteravia Government Center, 511 E. Lakeside Parkway, in Santa Maria. The meeting begins at 9 a.m.

Member agencies of COMB are asking the board to temporarily restrict boating on Lake Cachuma to vessels that are part of the rental fleet, according to a letter submitted to the county in January.

Such measures are needed, according to COMB members, to prevent the infestation of quagga mussels, a nuisance, non-native, freshwater mollusk.

The group is asking for restrictions on private boats, which can take the mussels from one body of water to the next, to allow the county time to implement a number of protective measures such as: establishing decontamination protocol; purchase and install high powered, heated, sprayers and decontamination stations; and develop an exit inspection program.

According to the county staff report, some of the protective measures are already in place such as having boaters sign a form about whether they have been in an infested lake, regular inspections of the lake and marina, and mandatory boat inspection notices are on the Web site and distributed in fliers.

Advertisement

Quagga mussels, which are native to Eastern Europe, were introduced to the United States in the Great Lakes region in 1988, according to the county's written staff report. The mollusks have spread throughout the Midwest and eastern United States. By 2007 quagga mussels were found in Lake Mead in Nevada and have since spread to other western states including California, according to the report.

In addition to altering a lake's ecosystem, the quagga mussels have been known to damage infrastructure in waterways, that in Lake Cachuma could damage facilities that transport Cachuma water to South Coast communities.

Included in the county staff report is a letter from COMB signed by C. Charles Evans, president of COMB, and information from parks staff about current measures to keep the quagga mussel out.

In his letter Evans urges the board to operate the recreation at the lake with the waterway's primary purpose in mind which is, “to provide a safe and adequate water supply to the customers of the Cachuma Project Member Units.”

“This is not an action that can be ‘phased in' but must be done immediately,” Evens wrote. “This is a serious and critical emergency, and needs to be recognized as such.”

However, county staff note that if boats were restricted there could be serious costs since the county would lose boating-related revenue, which for the remaining fiscal year is estimated at $186,500. This does not include additional losses such as daily auto entrance fees, camping fees, etc., according to the staff report.

Additionally, if boating is restricted the county would be responsible for paying back a portion of $2.7 million in grants that were given for new boat launches, according to the staff report.

Officials with COMB maintain that the annual cost to deal with the quagga mussel, if the mollusk is introduced, would far outweigh any costs now associated with temporary boating restriction.

Malia Spencer can be reached at 739-2219 or mspencer@santamaria/times.com.