LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Quagga/Zebra Sticker is required, in addition to a State DMV sticker, for all vessels launched in Lake County water bodies.
County officials said the new sticker for 2021 is now available.
Remember to check in with a participating screener when you return from any out-of-county trips with your boat – it’s the law.
Program screeners have current information on counties and water bodies in the western United States infested with invasive mussels.
Rescreening and inspections, when needed, are free. Resident and visitor stickers are $20.
Clean, drained and dry boats are safe boats. Display your sticker, protect your lake.
A few facts about invasive quagga/ zebra, or Q/Z, mussels:
– Q/Z mussels are voracious feeders, and decimate phytoplankton (beneficial green algae), destabilizing aquatic food chains and threatening valuable sport and game fisheries.
– Q/Z mussels are filter feeders, and drastically alter the chemistry and biology of the water ecosystem, exacerbating disease and increasing concentrations of cyanobacteria (blue green algae) and associated toxins.
– A single quagga mussel can produce 20,000-plus offspring in one season.
– Beaches on Q/Z-infested waterbodies can become littered with piles of sharp shells of dead mussels, causing injury and hindering recreation.
– Introduced in 2005, mussel densities in Lake Mead, Nevada, exceed 10,000m2. Quagga mussels now comprise 40 percent of Lake Mead’s animal population.
– Q/Z mussels can colonize on hard and soft surfaces, mud, plants, docks, boat engine cooling systems and water pipes.
– In other lakes, infestations have caused millions of dollars in maintenance, cleaning, and filtering needs in drinking water infrastructure – costs that are passed down to the consumer in higher drinking water bills.
For the latest list and map of boat screeners and sticker sellers, please visit www.nomussels.com or call Lake County Water Resources Department at 707-263-2344.
Code sections regarding Lake County’s Water Vessel Inspection Program: https://library.municode.com/ca/lake_county/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=COOR_CH15RE_ARTIXWAVEINPR_S15-58SCINST.
2021 resident quagga/zebra stickers now available at all screening locations, Water Resources Department
- LAKE COUNTY NEWS REPORTS
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