Memorandum
Date: July 29, 2025
To: The Honorable Lake County Board of Supervisors
From: Pawan Upadhyay, PhD, Water Resources Director
Matthew T. Rothstein, Chief Deputy County Administrative Officer
Subject: (a) Consideration of an Update Regarding Disruption to Critical Quagga and Zebra Mussel Funding and Next Steps, Including Affirmation of Appeal of Grant Decision; (b) Consideration of Board and Staff Letters Requesting Action by Governor Newsom and our State Legislative Delegation to Restore Funding for the Clear Lake Mussel Prevention Project; (c) Consideration of Authorizing Staff to Partner with Nielsen Merksamer for Additional State-Level Advocacy; (d) Consideration of a Resolution Amending the Motion by the Board Approving the Recommended Budget for FY 2025-2026 by Adjusting Revenues in Budget Unit 1072 (Cannabis) and 8109 (Watershed Protection District)
Executive Summary:
For your Board's and the public's awareness, the Lake County Watershed Protection District was recently notified our 2025 Quagga and Zebra Mussel Infestation Prevention Grant Application, facilitated by the California State Parks Division of Boating and Waterways, will not be funded. the Lake County Watershed Protection District was recently notified our 2025 Quagga and Zebra Mussel Infestation Prevention Grant Application, facilitated by the California State Parks Division of Boating and Waterways, will not be funded. This was a $399,520 request to support the Clear Lake Mussel Prevention Project, and the majority of the funding would have gone to support ramp monitor staffing costs.
On Wednesday, July 23, 2025, I contacted program staff, emphasizing the potentially profound consequences of disruption to this critical funding. Our Application was denied due to a clerical oversight (exclusion of a Letter documenting California Department of Fish and Wildlife review of the County's Dreissenid Mussel Prevention Plan, received in 2019), as opposed to any substantive concern or ...
Click here for full text