Loch Lomond & Zebra / Quagga mussels

Just ran across a posting on the City of SC website about the boat inspection procedure and restrictions at LL.  Its on their main page located at: http://www.ci.santa-cruz.ca.us/

New Boat Inspection Procedure and Restrictions at Loch Lomond

The Loch Lomond Recreation Area will open the 2008 season on Saturday March 1, 2008. Throughout California, water agencies are reacting to the introduction of the Zebra and Quagga mussels into fresh water bodies, and are taking steps to prevent their spread. The City has opted for an inspection program rather than ban all outside boats.   Some of the guidelines that rangers performing inspections will follow:

    * Since these mussels thrive in water, boats need to be dry.  If they are holding water, e.g. a bilge tank, through-hull fittings, hoses, pumps, live wells, they must be carefully inspected.  If they cannot be inspected, the boat will not be allowed to launch.
    * If the boat has a water-cooled or gas motor, it will not be allowed to launch.
    * Since inspecting for dryness would be impossible in the rain, no outside boats will be allowed to launch in the rain.
    * Any boat or trailer that has mud or aquatic plants on it will not be allowed to launch.
    * If the boat has been in another body of water within the past five days, it is most likely that boat will not be allowed to launch.


The Press Release: http://www.ci.santa-cruz.ca.us/press_release/PDF/mussels2008.pdf

WATER DEPARTMENT
***PRESS RELEASE***
For Release February 25, 2008
Contact: Scot Lang, Chief Ranger, Loch Lomond Recreation Area 335-7424
Terry Tompkins, Deputy Director, Operations, 420-5454
Bill Kocher, Director, Santa Cruz Water Dept. 420-5200
Email: citywtad@ci.santa-cruz.ca.us
The City of Santa Cruz Loch Lomond Recreation Area will open on Saturday, March 1, but rules regarding the launching of boats will change from the past. Throughout California, water agencies are reacting to the introduction of the Zebra and Quagga mussels into fresh water bodies, and are taking steps to prevent their spread.
These mussels are new to California, but appeared in southern California last year and have now been found as close as Hollister. These incredibly invasive mussels reproduce in such numbers that once introduced to a water body, they can quickly overrun it clogging pipes and undermining the natural ecosystem.
Since the most common means of spreading these mussels is by boats or trailers that have been in a lake where they were present, the City will implement a program that is intended to prevent the introduction of these invasive mussels from the outside.
Recreation area rangers have been trained in the identification of organism and the ways it attaches itself to boats and trailers and they will be critically examining boats and boat trailers through voluntary inspections of all boats entering the recreation area. The City has opted for this inspection program rather than ban all outside boats, but it will require the patience of those wishing to launch boats. According to Chief Ranger Scot Lang, “We want to keep the privilege of the use of outside boats on Loch Lomond open. With people’s patience , cooperation, and assistance, we can do that now, and for generations to come.”

And the Boat Inspection Procedure: http://www.ci.santa-cruz.ca.us/wt/recreation/Boat%20Inspection.pdf

New Boat Inspection Procedure and Restrictions at Loch Lomond
Fishing enthusiasts and boaters know that the Loch Lomond Recreation Area will open the 2008 season on Saturday March 1. Everyone is excited to experience once again the unparalleled beauty of this park. However, Chief Ranger Scot Lang has a sobering message, and a request for your help.
There has been a quiet invasion of this great land which will change forever how water systems operate. This war has finally hit Southern California, and a new battle front has been opened right here on the Central Coast. The invader is a tiny little fresh water mussel, no larger than a finger nail, brought to the shores of the Great Lakes by ballast water in a freighter from the Ukraine over a score of years ago. In the short generation of its existence on the U.S. mainland, the Zebra mussel and its cousin the Quagga mussel have wrought billions of dollars worth of damage to infrastructure, boats, and ecosystems throughout the Midwest. Now it has its sights set squarely on the West.
How could such a tiny little organism cause all this trouble? The answer is simple. One mussel can have as many as one million offspring in a year. With no natural enemies present in its new home, waves and waves of mussels quickly overrun the ecosystem. Hoards of the little mollusks end up coating all things underwater with layers and layers of mussels; clogging intake pipes and screens; coating launch ramps; sinking buoys with their weight; clogging boat engines causing them to overheat; eating all the algae in a lake, knocking out the very foundation of the food web so important in sustaining a vital fishery. This in turn causes rot and decay, creating water quality problems requiring increased use of chemicals, and expensive cleaning of infrastructure.
All the ramifications of an infestation are bad. Worse, lakes that become infected with these mussels will, by lawful order, be shut down to outside boats to preclude this invader from hitchhiking on watercraft to other areas. Such situations will place severe restrictions on the freedom of the fishing and boating public to pursue their passion. A case in point is San Justo Reservoir, just outside of Hollister. The Zebra mussel was found at this small Bureau of Reclamation lake in early January of this year. San Justo is now closed to all outside boats, probably forever. The same fate has befallen several other reservoirs in Southern California.
The City of Santa Cruz Water Department is very concerned about this state of affairs. The department’s primary mission is to provide clean, safe, pleasant-tasting drinking water in a cost-effective manner. A secondary mission is to provide the highest quality recreational experience possible. Now more than ever, the City needs the help of all people who use Loch Lomond in achieving these promises to the public.
The rangers at Loch Lomond have been charged with making sure that this invader doesn’t enter the reservoir. To that end, they have been trained in identification of this organism, and in the ways in which it hides on boats, trailers, and other equipment. One
way the mussel is transported is as a free-swimming larva in standing water. Because of this, the rangers will be interviewing boaters and conducting voluntary inspections of boats. They will try to make this as quick and painless as possible, but it will take time. There are several things boaters can do to smooth the process.
First, please be patient. The alternative to the minor inconvenience of a boat inspection is having outside boats excluded from the reservoir. Second keep a clean, dry boat. Wipe up or drain all water and keep the boat dry. Dry out all equipment such as life jackets, mooring ropes, and anchor lines. Clean and dry the boat hull. Any boat that has areas that can hold water that cannot be inspected will not be allowed on the reservoir. This includes any boats with through-hull fittings, hoses, pumps, live wells, liquid cooled boat engines, and any other area that can harbor water but can’t be inspected. Remove any mud or aquatic plants from the boat, trailer, and vehicle. Wait five days after using the boat in another body of water before coming to Loch Lomond. Following all these measures will help insure your boat to pass inspection and be allowed on the lake.
Due to the fact that it will be impossible for boats to be inspected for dryness when it is stormy, all outside boats will be excluded from the reservoir on rainy days. The Loch Lomond boat rental fleet will still be available during these times.
“We want to keep the privilege of the use of outside boats on Loch Lomond open. With your patience, cooperation, and assistance, we can do that now, and for generations to come.”
Contact: Scot Lang, Chief Ranger, Loch Lomond Recreation Area 335-7424
Terry Tompkins, Deputy Director, Operations, 420-5454
Bill Kocher, Director, Santa Cruz Water Dept. 420-5200
Email: citywtad@ci.santa-cruz.ca.us

Ain't gonna be a problem for kayaks at least. 

Ain't gonna be a problem for kayaks at least. 

Unfortunately it does affect kayaks. They make you take the kayak off the rack and they look into the hatches. Any water present will cause them to ban you that day. They also check PFD's and other equipment for water. I saw them turn a guy around after they made him take apart his electric motor and found water inside. I go there so often, I think I'll buy a kayak trailer. It's a huge pain to unload the boat twice.

OK,they check inside your hatch inside all of your tackle boxes and in all ice chests. Leave the beer home. Maybe? Was there this monday 3-3 There also checking your worms. Want to make sure the soil is clean.

How about waders and shoes?

I don't blame water department at all. Zebra mussels can cost a fortune for a municipal water facility to deal with as they can quickly foul things like intake pipes.  Water departments in the Great Lakes region have each spent millions on mussel removal and retrofitting facilities to deal with them.  The primary use of the reservoir is drinking water; recreation and fishing comes second.  If they wanted they could easily just close down the lake to boating all together.

If this is your primary fishing grounds, I'd seriously consider getting an extra kayak and dedicating one to Loch Lomond exclusively.  The rest of the new rules seem easy enough to deal with if you remember to take care of things before you get to the lake.

However, the bit about the worms is a bit over the top (at least for zebra mussels).

Brian

I don't blame water department at all. Zebra mussels can cost a fortune for a municipal water facility to deal with as they can quickly foul things like intake pipes.  Water departments in the Great Lakes region have each spent millions on mussel removal and retrofitting facilities to deal with them.  The primary use of the reservoir is drinking water; recreation and fishing comes second.  If they wanted they could easily just close down the lake to boating all together.

If this is your primary fishing grounds, I'd seriously consider getting an extra kayak and dedicating one to Loch Lomond exclusively.  The rest of the new rules seem easy enough to deal with if you remember to take care of things before you get to the lake.

However, the bit about the worms is a bit over the top (at least for zebra mussels).

Brian

I talked to them about using security tape on boats that come back a few times each week. They could wrap it around the boat and the tie-down straps. They're considering it, but who knows?

This is all well and good untill water fowl bring the mussels.  Then the boaters will be blamed.

It is virtually inevitable, and boaters will not be at fault.

BrewBasser

The ruling absolutely affects (and prohibits the use of) ALL SOT Kayaks.

All SOT's leak to their sealed inner hull.
All SOT's are (therefore) equipped with drain plugs.
The inner hull space of SOTs CANNOT be inspected.

Therefore by the ruling, these jack-booted fools........
do have the power to exclude all SOTs from use.

And that's absolute.

Judd

The ruling absolutely affects (and prohibits the use of) ALL SOT Kayaks.

All SOT's leak to their sealed inner hull.
All SOT's are (therefore) equipped with drain plugs.
The inner hull space of SOTs CANNOT be inspected.

Therefore by the ruling, these jack-booted fools........
do have the power to exclude all SOTs from use.

And that's absolute.

Judd

The people at Loch Lomond let SOT's on the lake. Just got back from there today.

By the way, it was almost 90 degrees in Felton today! That afternoon breeze on the lake felt just fine.

All SOT's leak to their sealed inner hull.
All SOT's are (therefore) equipped with drain plugs.
The inner hull space of SOTs CANNOT be inspected.

This makes no sense to me I inspect inside mine after every trip just pop a hatch.

All SOT's leak to their sealed inner hull.
All SOT's are (therefore) equipped with drain plugs.
The inner hull space of SOTs CANNOT be inspected.

This makes no sense to me I inspect inside mine after every trip just pop a hatch.

He must be thinking of the SOT's with no hatches. Most fishermen have the ones with hatches, though.

Do the hatches give you complete interior hull access?

The kayaks I looked at that have had hatches, the hatches accessed just a segment of the interior space.

My Ocean Kayak, no hatches...just drain plug, is un-inspectable.

Judd

They inspected both my P13 and my wife's Venus yesterday. Had to unleash them, open all hatchs and hold them up while he inspected. There was some residual moisture in my front hatch area from last summer, (yeah I was dumb and didn't open the hatch to dry it out) which caused him some concern, but he passed us. Then you have to drive down to the store and submit your paperwork to an available ranger. Which is a challenge as they are short staffed...

Rich

Do the hatches give you complete interior hull access?

The kayaks I looked at that have had hatches, the hatches accessed just a segment of the interior space.

My Ocean Kayak, no hatches...just drain plug, is un-inspectable.

Judd

Both my P15 and T160 have hatches. You can access the entire interior space thru them. My guess is that for a non-hatch boat like yours, they could pull the drain plugs and tip the boat both ways to see if any water comes out.