On Friday, Assemblyman James Gallagher’s staff attended the Oroville Recreation Advisory Committee meeting where the CA Dept. of Water Resources presented preliminary plans for combatting golden mussels at Lake Oroville. I spoke with senior officials from DWR after the ORAC meeting to emphasize the need for reciprocity with other North State lakes. The good news is that it appears that Lake Oroville likely won’t have the same crazy protocols that were implemented at Folsom Lake.
Please know that my staff and I are fully engaged on this issue and will be working with the community and various agencies to advocate for commonsense. I encourage boaters to do their homework this summer to make sure they know the latest information and aren’t showing up to the launch ramp unprepared. I’m sure many of you will have questions about other details of this program which are unknown at this time. When DWR finalizes their protocols, I will be sure to post.
DWR is working to finalize and publicize their inspection program details by the end of this week. For now, here is what I know. Keep in mind these details are not final and might change:
𝐁𝐈𝐆 𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐄𝐀𝐖𝐀𝐘𝐒
Not pulling boats off the lake for inspectionNot doing a mandatory 30-day quarantine before launch𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐒
DWR’s overall goal is to have a fully functioning program by Memorial Day weekend. Boats and personal watercrafts (PWCs) must pass an inspection before launching at the Lake Oroville facilities. Boats must be 100% dry to pass inspection. This includes all water containing features of the boat (bilge, live well, ballast tank, etc).
Boats and PWCs that pass an inspection will be “sealed” prior to departing the lake. The seal will allow the watercraft to launch at any of the 6 open launch ramp locations and to return to the lake at a later date without re-inspection. The seal must not be tampered with and remain in place to ensure it hasn’t been used in an infested waterbody between visits to the Lake Oroville facilities.
Anticipated number of inspection stations: 3
Anticipated number of open launch ramps: 6
4 at Lake Oroville1 at Afterbay1 at Forebay𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐈𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐈𝐓𝐘
DWR has been coordinating with other lake managers (PG&E, Yuba Water Agency, Reclamation, etc) to potentially develop a reciprocity program which would allow sealed watercraft to visit other lakes without re-inspection.
𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒
Only trailed boats and PWCs will need inspection (‘car top’ boats will not require inspection)If boaters fail an inspection due to wetness, a “dry out” period will be required. DWR has not yet determined the “dry out” duration.If you fail an inspection due to a golden mussel, expect for your boat to be quarantined and subject to other government protocols.Expect inspection station operating hours to be limited. Launching hours will be extended for boats and PWCs with a re-entry seal.DWR is in the process of hiring and training employees who will be responsible for implementing the inspection program.DWR is working to develop an online inspection reservation program to help manage wait times.Funding for this program is provided by the State Water Project.The start date for this program is still TBD.Additional details about golden mussels and an informational video are available on DWR’s website: https://water.ca.gov/…/How-to-Stop-the-Spread-of-Golden…
