Memorandum
Date: June 13, 2023
To: The Honorable Lake County Board of Supervisors Sitting as the Board of Directors, Lake County Watershed Protection District
From: Scott De Leon, Water Resources Director and Angela De Palma-Dow, Invasive Species Program Coordinator
Subject: Presentation of the Clear Lake Integrated Aquatic Plant Management Program
Executive Summary:
Invasive Aquatic Plants significantly alter lake ecology through the displacement of native species and alteration of ecosystems and habitats. Aquatic Invasive plants can clog channels, hinder recreational boating, create public health hazard issues, and impact native fish and wildlife. However, a rich and diverse native aquatic plant community is essential to the proper form and function of a large, shallow, natural Clear Lake. Native plants can compete with algae and cyanobacteria for nutrients and can provide vital refugia and food source for wildlife and fish - including for locally important species like black bass and the endemic Clear Lake hitch.
Sometimes, during high growth periods, both invasive and native species can become a nuisance to lake and water users. Lake County ordinance number 2777 (chapter 26) was last updated in 2006 to provide regulatory authority and direction for how County of Lake Water Resources Department can safely and effectively issue Aquatic Plant Management permits to chemically and manually manage and control selected nuisance aquatic plants within public and private areas of Clear Lake.
Every year the Board approves use of geothermal royalty funds to support the County herbicide treatments in public and high-use areas around the lake - to allow for safe boating and recreation. Therefore, it's important to provide the County and the Board of Supervisors with a review and update of this program specifically how it functions and how it's funded, and what the plans are for this program going into the future.
Angela De Palma-Dow, Water Resources Invasiv...
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