The report says that if you store your boat at the lake, that will be ok.
How much is monthly storage fee?
Officials OK boat ban at Casitas : Local News : Ventura County Star
Officials OK boat ban at Casitas
Mussel infestation fear spurs year-long limit
By
Zeke Barlow (
Contact)
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Despite the pleas of scores of fishermen who flock to Lake Casitas for its trophy-sized bass, officials voted Tuesday night to close the lake to outside private boats for one year in an effort to keep the invasive mussels out of the reservoir.
The ban, which takes effect immediately, will not allow boats from outside the lake because officials fear quagga mussels attached to a boat could multiply and cause millions of dollars in damage to infrastructure and change the ecology of the lake.
Fishing from shore, from rented boats or on vessels permanently stored at the lake will still be permitted. Officials repeatedly said the ban is not permanent.
Casitas is the largest, most popular lake in California to enact such stringent measures to protect itself against the quagga mussel. Fishermen feared other lakes would follow suit as the quagga problem continues to spread around the West.
In a debate that lasted 3 1/2 hours with nearly 3,000 people packed in the cafeteria at Nordhoff High School in Ojai, fishermen from around the state admonished the Casitas Municipal Water Board to keep the lake open. The fishermen said they would do everything in their power to keep the dreaded quagga mussels at bay.
But the board ultimately voted 3-2 to close the lake to the roughly 30,000 boats that launch there annually, saying that while they understand the concerns of the fishermen, the primary job of the district is to provide water to more than 60,000 rate payers in western Ventura County.
Board members Bill Hicks and Jim Word were the dissenting votes, saying while they think a temporary ban is needed, one year is too long. But the board members who voted for the measure said the closure, which might not last an entire year, is greatly needed so they can figure out how to keep the mussels at bay.
“What we are really grappling with is we want to take a breather and get our ducks in a row,” said board member Rich Handley. “We are not going to close you guys out; this is not permanent.”
Board members hoped their vote would send a message to state and federal agencies, which they said are dragging their feet in dealing with the quagga issue, board member Russ Baggerly said.
But for the 27 fishermen who spoke and the hundreds in the audience who applauded their comments, the temporary closure was a huge blow.
“Closing Lake Casitas would effectively kill it as one of our country’s top three bass fisheries,” said Ron Cervenka, who organizes bass tournaments at the lake. “Understand that the attention you are going to take tonight is not going to affect just Lake Casitas. There are other lakes waiting for you to make your decision, and your decision would point them in the direction.”
The Santa Barbara Board of Supervisors is scheduled to discuss a temporary ban at Cachuma Lake on Tuesday for similar reasons. Casitas started addressing quagga mussels about a year ago, shortly after they were discovered last year in Nevada’s Lake Mead.
The quagga, as well as the zebra mussel, has done more than $5 billion in damage to the Great Lakes after it was brought from the Ukraine inside a ship ballast. It is believed that the mussels got to Lake Mead via a boat. Since then, the mussels have spread through the Colorado River system into other lakes and reservoirs.
One lake in San Diego County was closed to outside boats with the hopes of keeping the mussels away, but it didn’t have nearly the number of fishermen that Casitas attracts.
Earlier this year, the closely related zebra mussel was discovered for the first time in California in a San Benito County reservoir south of San Francisco.
Quagga mussels, which can reproduce up to 1 million offspring a year, can quickly take over a lake, clog pipes and filters and cause a maintenance nightmare for water delivery systems. Casitas officials have said that an infestation could financially break the district.
The mussels can also alter a waterway’s ecosystem by eating away the bottom of the food chain and starving fish and other animals that depend on the microorganisms.
Fishermen pleaded that not only would they lose their recreation, but businesses around Ventura County would also be affected.
Ojai resident Larry Elshere did an informal survey of local businesses and said he estimates the loss of revenue to the county could be as high as $1.8 million.
“Before you make your final decision, I hope you take into account how it will affect the merchants and the businessmen in the community,” he said.
Joe Nasta said he recently retired and worked his whole life to get to the point where he could fish a few days a week on his new bass boat.
“What am I going to do when you close the lake?” he asked.
One of the most passionate appeals of the night came from actress Diane Ladd.
“If closing the lake would assure us pure water, I’d say go ahead, but if you have no proof that closing the lake will guarantee clean water, I beg you not to close the lake,” she said.
meeting makes me happy
GET YOUR FISH CUT
Life's journey is NOT what you can acquire.
Linear Mode
