Committee to fight Quagga Mussel

 

Lake Cachuma’s private boating operations will remain undisturbed, at least for the next two weeks, following the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisor’s decision to delay any immediate action in the quest to prevent an intrusion by the invasive Quagga Mussel.

Though its been confirmed that Lake Cachuma doesn’t have any Quagga Mussels, which were first identified in California in January and are indigenous to the Ukraine, the Cachuma Operations and Maintenance Board requested that the board consider shutting down the lake’s private boating operations until preventative measures could be taken to ensure the lake remains Quagga-free.

COMB operates the South Coast conduit facilities that supply water to various areas in the county.

COMB is not advocating a ban on fishing at Lake Cachuma, but it wants to be sure that a viable system is in place, said COMB representative Kate Rees.

The maintenance board warned that if the Quagga were to infiltrate water systems at the lake, the species could multiply rapidly.

 

“A lot of people feel that they just turn on the water and it just comes to their home and don’t really pay attention to where it comes from,” Rees said.

Rees said that assuming that the lake starts with only one pair of Quagga Mussels and that pair and each pair of their offspring only reproduced for one year and there was only a 10 percent survival rate, in five years there could be as many as 10 “septillion” Quagga Mussels in Lake Cachuma. (The number 10 septillion is equal to 1025 or 10 followed by 25 zeros.)

Though the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors declined to take immediate action against the threat of the invasive Quagga Mussel, 1st District Supervisor Salud Carbajal and 3rd District Supervisor Brooks Firestone are set to create and join an ad hoc committee to discuss abating the impending threat and the costs associated with preventative measures.

The issue will be back before the board March 25. For more information or to view a copy of the presentation the board received March 11, visit www.countyofsb.org.