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Hi gang, Rick Ostler from Used Pontoon boats bring you news and views from the boating industry. Big Bear Lake dodged a bullet April 17. A pontoon boat from Arizona was ready to launch from Captain John’s Fawn Harbor Marina with quagga mussels attached to the hull.
“The boat attendant got a bad feeling,” said Big Bear Lake Municipal Water District General Manager Scott Heule. Heule said the combination of an Arizona registration and a Lake Havasu water sports sticker prompted the attendant to send the boat to the West Boat Launch Ramp. An MWD inspector stationed at the West Ramp found quagga mussels attached to the boat. The mussels were already dead, Heule said.
“We were stunned. We thought we would be lucky to see one infected boat all season and we’ve already seen one and it’s April,” Heule said.
Big Bear Lake - Mussels Threat to Lake in 2007
It was the closest a quagga mussel has come to Big Bear Lake since the MWD identified the mussel as a threat to the lake in 2007, Heule said. In early April a boat headed to Big Bear Lake was inspected at the Interstate 15 agriculture stop in Yermo. Quagga mussels were attached and the boat was quarantined for 14 days, said Mike Giusti, senior environmental scientist for California Department of Fish and Game.
The quagga mussel is an invasive species found in lakes across the United States. The mussel started spreading from the Great Lakes in the late 1980s and migrated west reaching the Colorado River, Lake Havasu, Lake Mojave and several lakes in Southern California, Giusti said. “The quagga mussel cuts out the bottom of the food chain,” he said. The mussel eats phytoplankton, which bait fish feed on. Without bait fish, the game fish start dying. The destruction doesn’t stop there.
The quagga mussel damages boat intakes and dam works. Lakes in Southern California have shut down because of the mussel, Giusti said.
The MWD hopes to avoid the devastation with the public’s help. On April 24 Valley businesses and residents gathered to hear what the MWD plans to do to defend the lake.
In addition to check points at the MWD’s West and East launch ramps, the agency is launching an educational campaign aimed at boaters.
Big Bear Lake - Boaters fill out questionaire
“Clean, drained and dry is our slogan,” said MWD Lake Manager Mike Stephenson. Boats need to be cleaned, bilge tanks and intakes drained and dried before they can enter Big Bear Lake. Boaters fill out a questionnaire before launching into the lake. The boaters must list what lakes their boats have been in during the last month. If none of the lake listed are infected, the boaters will get a yellow slip to enter the lake.
“The yellow slip is like a hall pass,” Stephenson said. If the boat stays out of the inflected lakes, is cleaned, drained and dry before getting into Big Bear Lake, the boat can get into the lake with little delay, he said. The MWD will power wash any boats that have been on contaminated lakes and prohibit the boat from launching for eight days. Other lakes will be notified that the boat is quarantined, he said.
Dick Kun asked how the MWD will get the job done on busy weekends?
“In all likelihood there will be maybe two or three boats that need to be disinfected all season,” Stephenson said. Stephenson said the majority of boaters who could come to Big Bear Lake from infected waters are coming from the Colorado River and lakes east of Big Bear. Those boats will go through the agricultural stops on the highway where inspectors are checking boats.
Big Bear Lake - Discovery Center to use volunteers
Denis Thomas, director of the Big Bear Discovery Center, recommended using volunteers to help on busy weekends. “If you provided the training, we have plenty of volunteers at the Discovery Center willing to help,” he said.
Heule said the MWD will look into training volunteers.
Kun said it appears that the quagga mussel will eventually get into the lake. “Has the MWD looked into chemical eradication,” he asked.
The lone product that kills the mussel without killing fish is a bacteria common in ice cream, Giusti said. However, the bacteria is in the test phase and he can’t imagine many lakes using it. “Do you want to tell your customers that you are putting a bacteria in the lake?” he asked. A molluscicide is years away, he added.
The best thing is to keep the mussels from getting here, Stephenson said.
Thanks to reporter Brian Charles at bigbeargrizzly.net
Contact Brian at 909-866-3456, ext. 134 or by e-mail at briancharles@bigbeargrizzly.net.
Big Bear Lake Cabin Rentals
Here are some of the best Big Bear Lake Cabin Rentals.
A. Big Bear Frontier Hotel Resort - www.big-bear-cabins.com - (909) 866-2232 - 59 reviews
B. Three Pines Lodge & Resort Rentals - www.threepineslodge.com - (909) 866-4103 - 12 reviews
C. Big Bear Cool Cabins - www.bigbearcoolcabins.com - 6 reviews
D. Cal Pine Chalets & Vacation Rentals - www.bigbearcalpine.com - (909) 866-2574 - more
E. Pine Knot Guest Ranch - www.pineknotguestranch.com - (909) 866-6500 - 47 reviews
F. Oak Knoll Lodge - www.big-bear-lake.com - (909) 866-2773 - 1 review
G. Timber Haven Lodge - www.timberhavenlodge.com - (909) 866-7207 - 31 reviews
H. Big Bear Lakewood Cabins - www.bigbearlakewoodcabins.com - (909) 866-7633 - more
I. Big Bear Mountain Resort Rentals Inc. - www.bigbear1.com - (909) 878-2233 - more
J. Black Bear Cottages - www.blackbearcottages.net - (909) 878-3052 - 5 reviews
Used Pontoon Boats, By Rick Ostler
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Also we value your comments, if you can add more info in regards to this article please do so. Thanks............Rick
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