LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – In the ongoing effort to protect Clear Lake and other county water bodies from invasive mussels, the county of Lake is asking boaters to be sure to get their 2017 Lake County quagga mussel stickers.
Boaters must get their new mussel stickers before using their vessels in any Lake County water body.
The Lake County sticker is required in addition to the mussel sticker from the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Boaters should clean, drain and dry boats after every use, and check in with a participating screener when returning from an out-of-county trip with a boat.
The county's screeners stay up-to-date with those counties in the western United States that are infested. If your vessel needs decontamination, the county offers that service for free.
The community is asked to support the program that’s keeping Lake County mussel-free.
The county also asks that community members and boaters spread the word to anyone who may not know about the most serious biofouling pest ever to be introduced to North American freshwater systems.
A few facts:
• Quagga mussels can colonize hard and soft surfaces, mud, plants, docks, boat engine cooling systems and water pipes.
• One pair of mussels produce millions of offspring in a year.
• Densities in Lake Mead since the first introduction in 2005 have grown to more than 10,000 mussels per square meter. Sixty percent of the animal population in Lake Mead is now quagga mussels.
• Beaches become littered with piles of glass-sharp shells.
• They alter the chemistry and biology of the water ecosystem.
• The basis of the aquatic food chain, plankton, is removed by these voracious feeders.
• Three new pristine lakes in the state of Montana have tested positive for quagga mussels in the past month. Up until now Montana was mussel-free.
For the latest list of screening locations see www.nomussels.com or call 707-263-2344.
County issues reminder to boaters to get 2017 quagga mussel sticker
- Lake County News reports
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