Boats inspected for invasive species on Lake Tahoe

Posted on 09 July 2012

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Boaters on Lake Tahoe should be prepared to have their vessels inspected at an inspection station.

So far this year officials have stopped four boats with invasive species attached to them from entering Lake Tahoe, according to The Record-Courier.

Two of those boats had come directly from the quagga mussel-infested waters of Lake Mead in southern Nevada.

Officials at the Meyers inspection station flagged a 28-foot pleasure boat on June 18 for having dead quagga mussels attached to its stern, according to the Tahoe Resource Conservation District.

On May 26, officials at the Alpine Meadows inspection station intercepted a 28-foot fishing boat with more than 50 live and dead quagga mussels in the vessel's water intakes and the raw water system.

According to the conservation district, both owners said their respective watercraft last visited Lake Mead, which is just east of Las Vegas and has been infested with quagga mussels since 2007.

A third boat potentially carrying New Zealand mudsnails from Oregon was halted before entering Lake Tahoe, according to the conservation district.

The three incidents occurred after inspector trainees found a 29-foot Sea Ray at the Meyers roadside station on April 18 with more than 40 adult zebra mussels and some unidentified weeds primarily around the engines on the back of the vessel. That boat was believed to have last visited the Great Lakes, which have been infested with invasive species for years.

“It's important that boaters do their part and clean, drained and dry their boats before arriving at inspection stations,” Dennis Zabaglo, watercraft program manager with the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, said in a statement.

Click here for the full report.

Comments

1 Monday, 09 July 2012 17:34

By enginecom

First they told us pressure washing and steam cleaning was forbidden. Now they want the boats disinfected. Let these agencies setup cleaning stations for the boaters to use after leaving and prior to launching. Digging into an engine cooling system is not easy in most boats. Flushing with bleach or other toxic chemicals would work but what about chemical discharges?

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