Memorandum
Date: August 6, 2024
To: The Honorable Lake County Board of Supervisors and the board of Directors, Lake County Watershed Protection District
From: Angela De Palma-Dow, Water Resources Coordinator, and Pawan Upadhyay, Water Resources Director
Subject: Presentation on the Clear Lake Integrated Science Symposium by Lake County Watershed Protection District Staff.
Executive Summary:
While Clear Lake is the jewel of Lake County, there has not been a dedicated Clear Lake science conference or symposium in Lake County in 25 years. It’s time for a comprehensive Clear Lake Integrated Science Symposium to showcase the research and management that has been occurring in the lake and watershed.
The Clear Lake Integrated Science Symposium (CLISS 2024) will be held August 15th and 16th, 2024. Main sessions will be at Robinson Rancheria Conference Center with additional concurrent sessions being held at Habematolel Meeting Hall on Main Street in Upper Lake, CA.
Daytime activities include traditional sessions, Q&A panels, and workshops on various topics ranging from the Superfund Sulfur bank Mercury studies and management, Clear Lake Hitch, Clear Lake Water Quality Monitoring, Harmful Cyanobacteria and Algal Blooms, Flora and Fauna, Invasive Species, and In-lake and Landscape Management and mitigation strategies.
Evening activities include a Thursday evening networking poster reception, at Robinson, that will allow time and space for the public to interact and engage with researchers, managers, and scientists while learning about projects being displayed on posters.
Friday evening activities will continue at Soper Reese Theater, in Lakeport, and will include a Clear Lake mini-science documentary premier “Big Lake, Big Science” and Lake County’s first Science Slam. This will provide another opportunity for the public to learn about science occurring in Clear Lake and the basin.
This event is free, but registration is requested to ensure food & drink accommodation and associated materials for in-person attendees.
Motivation for CLISS
Clear Lake is important to Lake County ecologies and economies, yet over time, the Lake has been impacted by land use changes, development, pollution, and climate change. Identifying how these factors have influenced Clear Lake’s form and function is an important research question that requires dedicated space and time to explore. The management and solutions needed to improve Clear Lake conditions, and the ecosystems that depend on a vibrant, healthy, and natural lake, should be identified and discussed with scientific consensus and within an open forum that is accessible by and for the public.
The Clear Lake Integrated Science Symposium aims to meet this objective, and more, and will be an essential information exchange opportunity for scientists and managers from the county, tribes, state and federal agencies, universities, NGOs and private environmental organizations, to educate the public and each other, to improve the future of Clear Lake and Lake County.
Lake County Watershed Protection District staff is requesting 15 minutes to present the symposium to the Board of Directors / Supervisors and the public.
Please see attachments:
Main CLISS Poster, with event sponsors
Thursday Evening Poster and Networking Reception
Friday Night Film Poster
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