Dear Lady of the Lake,

Where can I find information about Clear Lake? What is being done to improve conditions in the lake?

- Looking to Learn More Lars in Lucerne


Hi Lars,

Thanks for reaching out about this question! Great timing too. There is actually quite a bit going on in Clear Lake and the lake basin in regards to research, science exploration, management, and conservation. There are a myriad of local, state, federal agencies, organizations, tribes, individuals, and companies that are doing this work.

With all of this effort, from different sources, it can be very hard to keep track of what is going on and how impacts can and will be realized, such as what is being done in the lake to reduce nuisance harmful cyanobacteria and algae blooms.

Thankfully, the Lake County Watershed Protection District is hosting a Clear Lake Integrated Science Symposium in Lake County, on Thursday, Aug. 15, and Friday, Aug. 16, at Robinson Rancheria Conference Center and Habematolel Upper Lake Meeting Hall from 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. We have been referring to this event as CLISS 2024 (#CLISS2024, for Clear Lake Integrated Science Symposium).

To view and download schedules and information about the symposium, visit the event webpage at the County of Lake Water Resources website here.

This symposium will comprehensively provide the most recent data and information on current research and management occurring in Clear Lake and the basin.

This symposium will feature researchers, scientists, tribes, managers and organizations that are all working together to learn how to improve Clear Lake conditions and implement beneficial actions.

The symposium will feature a keynote speaker, Geneva Thompson of California Natural Resources Agency. Thompson has been an active advocate for Clear Lake restoration and research in Clear Lake through her role on the Blue Ribbon Committee for the Rehabilitation for Clear Lake. She has pushed to get funds allocated to Lake County, and has promoted the work being done in the lake through legislative and state avenues.

Thompson joined the California Natural Resources Agency in June 2021 as the deputy secretary for tribal affairs. She recently served as associate general counsel for the Yurok Tribe, where she practiced environmental and cultural resource law and represented the Yurok Tribe in tribal, state and federal forums.

She graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, with specializations in critical race studies and public interest law and policy. Thompson is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and enjoys beading, gardening, and hiking with her spouse in state and national parks. She has been to Clear Lake many times to attend meetings and to see projects happening in real time.

The symposium is lucky to have such a well-rounded and invested keynote speaker!

This symposium is strongly needed because 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, with many people and perspectives at the table.

The targeted 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.

Science in the raw

Now, fair warning. I want to be clear about this. Please don’t expect this symposium to be washed out and simplified, this is a fully technical forum. There are going to be complex, scientific concepts and ideas that are being discussed, investigated and presented. This is how real science gets done. But the public will get a first row seat, and that is very exciting.

The timing for this event was chosen because the endemic and state-listed Clear Lake Hitch, a small minnow fish species that lives only in Clear Lake, is on the pathway to be federally listed under the US Endangered Species Act, or ESA, in early 2025. It's likely that this species will be ESA listed, even while there remains many unknowns about the current state of Clear Lake ecosystems in which the Hitch is dependent.

There will be a dedicated Hitch Conservation Session Friday afternoon (1 to 4 p.m.) in Robinson Main Meeting Hall. This will be moderated by California Department of Fish and Wildlife, which state listed the Hitch in 2014.

To learn more about Clear Lake Hitch and the listing process, please refer to my previous columns, To List a Fish and Merry Fishmas.

This symposium aims to address these uncertainties. Putting all the science and results together in one space, with built-in accountability from the public as an intellectual and collaborative witness, will help to answer some of the unknowns that are driving declines in hitch populations.

The symposium will also be an open, public, and accessible forum for the report out of expensive research and management projects that have been funded by state programs and initiatives, such as the Blue Ribbon Committee for the Rehabilitation of Clear Lake.

The 16-member Blue Ribbon Committee was established in 2017 and to date has allocated and dispersed over $5 Million in Prop 68 funds and approved at least another $5 Million of state and general fund grants and awards into Clear Lake research and implementation projects.

After the keynote speaker, the symposium will begin with an overview of the Blue Ribbon Committee progress, and several dedicated talks and sessions throughout the symposium will feature results from projects funded by The Blue Ribbon Committee such as Clear Lake monitoring and modeling session moderated by USGS and UCD.
The Clear Lake Monitoring and Modelling Sessions will be held at the Habematolel Upper Lake Meeting Hall on Thursday afternoon (1 to 3:30 p.m.).

For more background information on the Blue Ribbon Committee For the Rehabilitation of Clear Lake, visit my previous columns, “Bemused and confused about the Blue Ribbon Committee” and “Thankful for the Blue Ribbon Committee.” 

The symposium will also feature a session Thursday morning, at Robinson Main Meeting Hall from 10:30 a.m. to noon, presented by US EPA that will review the Sulphur Bank Mine Superfund Site history and clean-up plan, and results from the most recent mercury studies in Clear Lake will be presented by USGS and UCD. Much of this information is brand new and has not been presented elsewhere.

While there are many more interesting and super-science packed sessions at the symposium, one of the most hot topics within the Clear Lake community, especially in the middle of a record-breaking hot summer, is harmful cyanobacterial and algal blooms, sometimes called HABs.

The symposium will include a session on monitoring and tracking these blooms, on Thursday afternoon following the lake monitoring and modeling session, at the Habematolel Upper Lake Meeting Hall on Thursday afternoon ( 4 to 5:30 p.m.).

This session will be moderated by Big Valley Rancheria, who has led the state in tribal cyanobacterial monitoring programs, started right here in Clear Lake in 2014.

On Friday afternoon, the last two sessions of the event, also at the Habematolel Upper Lake Meeting Hall (2:30 - 5:30 pm), will focus on both landscape and in-lake mitigation strategies, or solutions, to harmful cyanobacterial blooms in Clear Lake.

It's sure to be a learning experience for all and while there are sessions occurring concurrently, and information may be presented quickly and with lots of technical evidence and data, there will be livestream options for both days and locations. All sessions will be recorded to be accessed quickly and for free, forever, at the Lake County Water Resources Department YouTube Channel and Website.

There is also a special opportunity to purchase binder proceedings of the symposium until the end of the month. This digital binder will always be available online, but printed versions are on sale now, for a limited time, and will be sent to purchasers after the symposium.

You can purchase a printed copy of the digital binder now,for $20, on Event Brite until August 31, 2024.

How to attend in-person and remotely

While this article is going to press, the in-person registration spaces for the day events of the symposium (science presentations, talks, and workshops) have all been sold out. While this is a free event, the building has a capacity limit and there is a limit to food, drinks, and event swag bags and materials that are going to be available.

However there are some live streaming options available, and there is still ticket space available for the Friday evening event at Soper Reese Theater where the premier of the Clear Lake film “Big Lake, Big Science” will be shown, followed by the County’s first Science Slam.

To access the live streaming options for CLISS:

Thursday and Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Robinson Rancheria Conference Center Sessions will be on the county of Lake You Tube Channel and PEGTV (Mediacom Ch. 8). To access the County of Lake youtube just search for @countyoflakeca4328 in your browser from your computer or smart phone. If you have a smart TV, you can download the YouTube App and search enter @countyoflakeca4328 in the search bar.

Thursday, 1 to 5:30 p.m., afternoon sessions to be held at the Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake Meeting Hall will be accessible through a zoom webinar. Click to join from a PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone or Android device: https://lakecounty.zoom.us/j/82478033229?pwd=DxE4IXGeE6YxChq4xgP4wQVPxWaKQN.1. Meeting ID: 82478033229 Passcode: 514738 or if calling in from a phone within the USA, dial: (669)900-6833. Enter Meeting I.D. 82478033229# And Enter Passcode 514738#

Friday, 1 to 5:30 p.m., afternoon sessions to be held at the Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake Meeting Hall will be accessible through a zoom webinar. Click to join from a PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone or Android device: https://lakecounty.zoom.us/j/82621518165?pwd=Rk3JbnxkV5xRvXUE82V1baAOpnq6Z1.1. Meeting ID: 82621518165 Passcode: 112298. Or if calling in from a phone within the USA, dial: (669)900-6833. Enter Meeting I.D. 82621518165# And Enter Passcode 112298#

To learn more about the Clear Lake Integrated Science Symposium, its purpose, how it was designed, funded, and overall summary of what it will provide, you can watch the presentation by the Watershed Protection District staff to the Board of Supervisors in this you tube video.




Sincerely,

Lady of the Lake

The Lady of the Lake column is written by a limnologist (limnology=study of fresh inland waters) who lives and works in Lake County. Born in northern California, she has a Masters of Science from Michigan State University. She is a Certified Lake Manager from the North American Lake Management Society (NALMS) and she is the current president / chair of the California Chapter of the Society for Freshwater Science. The Lady of the Lake is also a Certified Tourism Ambassador, as of July 2023. She can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

If you would like to talk to the Lady of the Lake in person, you can stop by her booth at the Big Valley Small Farms Tour, Saturday, May 11, at Ripe Choice Farm., from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.