Home › News › Other News
Cachuma Lake remains open to boaters
Download this story as a podcast!
Multimedia and more
Interactive: Quagga quandary
An interactive map showing the spread of quagga mussels in So. California and the damage they can do. View now »
Video: Protecting Casitas
Lake Casitas officials may close the popular fishing lake to outside boats. Watch now »
Related articles:
Lake Casitas boat ban has ripple effect
Westlake Lake joins boat ban linked to mussel
Officials OK boat ban at Casitas
STORY TOOLS 
More from Other NewsThe Santa Barbara Board of Supervisors voted today to keep Cachuma Lake open to fishing boats and install a number of measures to keep the invasive quagga mussel at bay.
Fishermen at the hearing applauded the decision, saying it was a way to deal with the mussel while still keeping the lake open.
Earlier this month, the Casitas Municipal Water Board voted to close Lake Casitas to outside boats for one year in an effort to stop the quagga mussel. Fishing from shore, from rented boats or on vessels permanently stored at the lake is still permitted.
The mussel, which was first discovered in the West last year, can produce up to 1 million offspring a year, and can quickly take over a lake, clog pipes and filters and cause a maintenance nightmare for water delivery systems.
Fishermen feared other lakes would follow Casitas' lead as the quagga problem continues to spread around the West.
But the Santa Barbara board decided Cachuma Lake will remain open to fishermen launching their own boats. However, the lake will require special precautions. Some of the rules that take effect Friday and last indefinitely include:
n All boats must be clean and dry.
n All drainplugs are to be removed.
n Only commercially purchased bait will be allowed.
n A tag system will be implemented for those who fish only at Cachuma Lake, which will allow them to come and go at will with their boats.
Also, the lake will install cleaning stations with hot water that will help stop any potential infestations.
Posted by SF1943 on March 25, 2008 at 3:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Bring in all the foreign boats you want but you couldn't catch a fish of any size value in that lake if your life depended on it!!
(Requires free registration.)
Article discussions on this site are to support community debates of issues related to our stories and editorials.
Discussions should not stray from the subject of the story or editorial.
We do not allow the following:
We reserve the right to delete threads and/or ban users for these or other reasons we deem necessary.
Opinions are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.