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Reservoir boating in peril

By Sandra Gonzales 

With invasive mussels infiltrating California’s waterways, proposals are under consideration to temporarily ban boats from Santa Clara County reservoirs or simply inspect each watercraft for the pests that wreak havoc on the environment.

Neither the Quagga or Zebra mussels have been found in county reservoirs yet, but local officials don’t want to take any chances. The proposals are a pre-emptive strike against the threat.

At issue, though, is what to do and who will pay for it. And, at the center of it all are two entities, the Santa Clara Valley Water District and Santa Clara County.

Both have been in talks on how to develop an inspection process.

Under the water district proposal, the ban would last until the county can start a boat inspection program at all seven of its local reservoirs that allow boating.

“Now that we’re moving into the summer months, more people are out boating,” said water district spokeswoman Susan Siravo. The mussels usually spread on boats, she said, a concern because zebra mussels were recently found in San Bernardino County’s San Justo Reservoir.

The mussels cling to hard surfaces, such as boat bottoms, anchors and hulls, damaging boats and clogging water intake structures. Both species of mussel are non-native aquatic mollusks that disrupt the natural food chain and release toxins that affect other aquatic species. They range in size from microscopic to the magnitude of a fingernail.

“We know people like to go from one reservoir to another,” Siravo said. “There’s a real sense of urgency, since Zebra mussels have been found so close to our reservoirs.”

The possible ban will be discussed at the water district’s Tuesday board meeting, which will be open to the public.

But Santa Clara County officials say a temporary ban isn’t necessary and on Wednesday County Executive Pete Kutras called instead for an inspection of the boats to begin on Memorial Day weekend.

“The appropriate move to address the spread of Quagga and Zebra mussels is to immediately begin inspecting all boats launching in local reservoirs and to continue permitting active recreation,” Kutras said. “In the end, it’s their land and they can choose to ban boating, and I’m trying to be clear that they ought not to.”

The cost of the program is expected to be up to $700,000, and both agencies believe the other should pay for it. Kutras is proposing a $7 fee to help defray the costs of the program at Anderson Lake, Calero Reservoir and Coyote Lake.

Siravo said the financial responsibility rests with the county because the county handles the recreational aspect of the reservoirs and the water district doesn’t get any of the revenues.

But county officials pointed out that if the mussels spread here, they could damage water district equipment, and that the district has more financial resources to pay for it than the county. “We’re not doing this to facilitate recreation, we’re doing this to protect the infrastructure of the water system,” Kutras said.

Last year, 150,000 permits were issued for vessels to operate in the county’s reservoirs. Some boaters don’t like either idea.

“It’s a delicate subject. Personally, I think, most of these regulations are going to make the activity of boating much more difficult to participate in,” said Greg Smith, a boater who also works at West Marine in Saratoga. “These inspections are too strict, they’re not loose enough.”

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Posted In: Boating Industry on May 15, 2008 Comments (6,985)

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