Image of Zebra and Quagga Mussels
Here’s another good article about the quagga mussel and how officials are increasing the awareness and increasing the inspection process to make sure they protect our waterways.
Three More Inland Lakes begin Inspections for Destructive Quagga Mussels
By MELISSA EISELEIN and GAIL WESSON
The Press-Enterprise
Operators of at least three more Inland lakes have started inspecting boats and other watercraft this spring to make sure there is no evidence of invasive quagga mussels before allowing them on the water.
Officials at Lake Perris State Recreation Area, Lake Hemet and Silverwood Lake State Recreation Area are making sure vessels and equipment are cleaned, drained and dry, or else visitors will be turned away.
The inspections are designed to prevent the spread of the rapidly reproducing quagga and zebra mussels, which can destroy native wildlife, damage boat motors and clog the pipes and pumps that keep water flowing to Southern California homes and businesses.
“We’re trying to protect our resource for today and future generations,” said Lake Perris Superintendent Norb Ruhmke.
Inspections had already been required at other Inland lakes including Lake Skinner, Big Bear Lake and Lake Arrowhead.
The microscopic mussel larvae can survive in a tiny amount of water and then be transported from one body of water to another.
“It doesn’t take much. Just a little bit of water can contain hundreds of these guys,” said Lake Perris quagga inspector Daniel Jones.
RAMPANT INFESTATION
Quagga mussels have been found in 19 Southern California bodies of water, and zebra mussels have been found in one central California lake, according to the state Department of Fish and Game Web site.
Quaggas were first detected in the western U.S. at Lake Mead in 2007. Since then, they spread to the Colorado River Aqueduct, one of Southern California’s main supply routes for imported water.
The mussels have reached two Inland lakes so far: Lake Mathews south of Riverside and Lake Skinner near Temecula.
Lake Mathews does not allow boating. But at quagga-infested Lake Skinner, watercraft are inspected before they enter and leave.
“They can’t leave until they are as dry as possible. Our goal is to keep the critters from leaving and to keep from introducing more into the lake,” said Park Ranger Jack Altevers.
The Inland region’s other imported water supply comes from Northern California via the California Aqueduct to the Silverwood and Perris lakes.
That water supply is not contaminated. State officials want to keep it that way.
THOROUGH INSPECTIONS
Lake Hemet in the San Jacinto Mountains is fed by rain and snowmelt, and water is released down the San Jacinto River.
“If you’ve got quagga mussels in the lake here, they will eventually end up going downstream,” said Mark Perinsky, lake campground manager for the Lake Hemet Municipal Water District.
Employees inspect to ensure no water is present in the bilge, bait tanks or boat motor before allowing a boat on the lake, he said. Before a boater departs, an inspection band is attached to the boat and its trailer so the user may return without inspection if that band has not been tampered with.
Lake Hemet honors similar bands affixed by Perris, Silverwood and Big Bear lakes, he said.
Inspectors at Lake Perris and Silverwood state recreation areas check vessels visually and by touch. They inspect the trailer, equipment locker, motor compartment and fittings. If there is any moisture on the vessel or equipment, it does not get in the park.
“We check lifejackets, wakeboard boots and ski rope. If any of that stuff is moist, the quagga can survive,” Ruhmke said.
Ralph Wynn Sr., of Hemet, said he didn’t mind having his boat inspected last week at Lake Perris.
“It’s time-consuming, but as long as people realize they have to take that extra time, there’s no problem,” Wynn said.
David Areyan, 42, of Wilmington, thought he knew the routine. His jet skis had recently been inspected at a lake in Arizona, he said.
But when Lake Perris quagga inspectors took a look inside the engine compartments, they found traces of water in both vessels and tagged them with a red quarantine notice.
“It’s just tap water,” Areyan said. “You mean I drove all the way here to get turned away?”
Vessels that don’t pass inspection at Lake Perris and Silverwood Lake state recreation areas are quarantined for seven days. After the quarantine period, boaters can have their vessels rechecked, Ruhmke said.
REGIONAL EFFORTS
Metropolitan Water District, the Los Angeles-based water wholesaler that oversees the 242-mile Colorado River Aqueduct, has appropriated $10 million for capital improvements and spends about $5 million a year in maintenance costs to combat the mussels, according to Ric De Leon, Metropolitan’s microbiology unit manager and quagga mussel control program manager.
“Since we started this program, we haven’t seen any mussel colonies of significance,” he said.
Water is chlorinated at Copper Basin, about five miles from the river, and at the outflow of Lake Mathews and Lake Skinner.
A new state law requires recreation lake operators to develop a prevention plan that may range from education to inspections.
At Lake Elsinore, which does not get Colorado River water, private launches and a city-contracted concessionaire distribute educational material to boaters, according to Pat Kilroy, director of lake and aquatic resources for the city. A regional watershed authority has hired UC Riverside to assess potential risks.
Reach Melissa Eiselein at 951-763-3462 or meiselein@PE.com
Reach Gail Wesson at 951-763-3455 or gwesson@PE.com
STOPPING QUAGGAs
Since January 2007, invasive quagga mussels have been found in 19 bodies of water in Southern California. From lakes along the Colorado River, the mollusks invaded the Colorado River Aqueduct and spread west to Lake Mathews near Riverside and southwest to Lake Skinner near Temecula.
New inspections: Lake Perris State Recreation Area, Silverwood Lake State Recreation Area in the San Bernardino National Forest and Lake Hemet in the San Jacinto Mountains are the latest to require boat inspections.
The rule: Watercraft must be clean, drained and dry before inspectors allow them to enter lakes.
Where did the mussels come from? They are native to Ukraine. Experts suspect they arrived in the U.S. 20 years ago in the Great Lakes, from ship ballast water discharge.
On the Web: www.dfg.ca.gov/invasives/quaggamussel or www.100thmeridian.org
RELATED ARTICLES:
MWD….License to Kill Quagga (February 5, 2009)
Quagga Mussel Update from the Big Bear Grizzly- (January 2, 2009)
Keeping the Quagga Mussel Away from Big Bear Lake (September 22, 2008)
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