The Santa Barbara County Parks Department put a temporary boat quarantine in place on Cachuma Lake—starting Dec. 27, 2013—to prevent infection by quagga or zebra mussels after the invasive species was discovered in Ventura County’s Lake Piru.
The 14-day quarantine was a stopgap measure put into place until the department can decide on the best way to respond to the threat, according to Liz Gaspar, a parks naturalist with the county.
“Given that it’s so close, we wanted to put our heads together,” Gaspar said. “As soon as anything changes, we will update it on the website.”
The quarantine doesn’t apply to boats with existing and intact security tags from Cachuma Lake. The parks department has held a series of meetings on the matter since the quarantine began. Gaspar said there would be another meeting on Friday, Jan. 10, which is technically the last day of the 14-day quarantine.
“However, we are examining that, so it may be extended following that two-week period,” Gaspar said. “We will determine whether to extend that, or what kind of change to make to that.”
Quagga and zebra mussels are non-native freshwater mussels that come from Eurasia. A press release send out by California Fish and Wildlife said they multiply quickly, encrust watercraft and infrastructure, and compete for food with native and sport fish species. Mussels are spread from one water body to another as they attach to nearly anything that’s been in an infested water body.
Lake Piru Recreation Area staff first discovered the invasive mussels attached to a patrol boat, and found more mussels on the shoreline and on devices in the lake specifically deployed for detecting them. It’s the first time the invasive species have been found in a Southern California water body that doesn’t receive water from the Colorado River.
To find out more about the Cachuma Lake boat quarantine, visit countyofsb.org/parks.
This article appears in Jan 9-16, 2014.