MEETING DATE: 5/21/2019
DEPARTMENT: COUNTY ADMINISTRATION OFFICE
DEPT HEAD/DIRECTOR:
AGENDA ITEM PREPARER: Dulce Alonso
SBC DEPT FILE NUMBER: 139
SUBJECT:
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
Receive update on San Justo Reservoir.
SBC FILE NUMBER: 156
AGENDA SECTION:
REGULAR AGENDA
BACKGROUND/SUMMARY:
In September 2018, San Justo Reservoir Zebra Mussel Eradication report was created for the Bureau of Reclamation, which is attached.
The Denver Technical Services Center (TSC) is in the final phases of completing the Draft Eradication Plan. Reclamation prepared a Draft San Justo Zebra Mussel Eradication Plan for scientific peer review in early April. Requests for peer review were sent out through mid-April expecting a responses by May.
This project has also been tagged for inclusion in a nationwide effort as a case study for Collaborative Conservation and Adaptation Strategy Toolbox, which is a joint venture of the Southwest Climate Hub, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Reclamation, and Forest Service.
The last staff report was brought to the Board of supervisors on March 8, 2016 states:
In 2008 the discovery of Zebra mussels in the San Justo Reservoir meant closure of the area to public recreation. The Reservoir is owned by the Bureau of Reclamation, the water managed and operated by the San Benito County Water District, and, at the time the area was open, the County of San Benito was responsible for managing recreation. A 1985 agreement, which is attached, details this 30 year old agreement.
Given the invasive nature of Zebra mussels, and the fact that its the only one of its kind in California (other mussel infestation, which are nearly identical, are due to quagga mussels), the area was closed to prevent spreading the destructive mussel to other bodies of water. A CEQA and NEPA process and eradication plan is necessary to remove the zebra mussel threat from this water. Upon successful eradication, a threshold that will need to be agreed upon by the California State Department of Fish and Wildlife Bureau, and approximately three years of data collection to ensure there will be no future threat, a recreational management plan may be implemented allowing limited use of the area. Limited use would be identified in the Recreation Plan/Mussel Management Plan and could include mitigation measures such as requiring the rental of equipment (skiffs, fishing equipment, paddle boards, etc) only rather than allowing the public to bring equipment in and out of the reservoir. Other successful mussel management practices are found else where in California because of the large infestation of quagga mussels in open waterways. The Department of Boating and Waterways, part of the State Department of Parks and Recreation, currently charges an additional fee as part of boating registration to pay for the prevention of zebra/quagga mussel infestation. Unfortunately, grant opportunities relating to this funding are only available to areas that are currently open to recreation. In order to reopen this area to public recreation, a eradication plan and recreation management plan will need to be developed, agreed upon, and adopted by multiple agencies, funding will be needed in order to implement the eradication plan, data collection upon implementation will be required, and a determination would be made by the State Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Bureau about the feasibility of reopening to recreation upon successful eradication. Funding is the first step, in a long process that will require careful planning.
Other important information regarding the collaborative effort to prevent the spread of zebra/quagga mussels may be found here:
http://www.100thmeridian.org/
BUDGETED: