Tuesday October 1, 2024
County of Sonoma —
The Sonoma County Water Agency’s watercraft inspection program at Lake Mendocino will continue for another two years, thanks to $400,000 in state grant funding that went into effect on Sept. 16. The California State Parks Division of Boating and Waterways grant will fund the program to keep invasive quagga and zebra mussels from being introduced to Lake Mendocino until Sept. 15, 2026.
Quagga and zebra mussels are an invasive mussel which, if introduced into a waterway, can devastate the natural environment, clog water and flood protection infrastructure, and cost millions of dollars in maintenance. Mussels are transported between waterways by watercraft, primarily recreational boats.
Sonoma Water self-funded infestation prevention efforts at both Lake Mendocino and Lake Sonoma beginning in 2012, and in 2020 was first able to successfully obtain funds from the Division of Boating and Waterways to support these efforts. In 2024 the Division of Boating and Waterways awarded Sonoma Water a $400,000 grant supporting two more years of the program at Lake Mendocino.