LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – After getting a chilly reception from the community, a new written test that county residents were required to take before getting invasive mussel stickers for their boats has been suspended.

Public Works Director Scott De Leon announced on Friday that the recently instituted test was being sidelined.

He said the county’s resident boaters still will be required to complete a screening form to obtain their annual inspection stickers, meant to help ensure boats aren’t carrying damaging quagga and zebra mussels.

The written test’s goal was to raise public awareness of the importance of preventing the spread of invasive mussels and protecting the county’s water bodies, according to De Leon.

Clearlake Oaks resident Jim Steele, retired from the California Department of Fish and Game, was hired last year by Lake County Water Resources to consult on the quagga mussel program, at a rate of $50 an hour, not to exceed $50,000 annually.

In a commentary published by Lake County News in December, Steele argued that the new written test was an approach to “providing information that every resident should know” about preventing a mussel infestation.

Steele suggested in the commentary that the short true or false written test could help “ensure comprehension of the important facts” by the county’s 6,000 resident boats.

However, De Leon said that input from boat screeners and community members indicated that further development of the test would be needed for the test to achieve that goal.

That came through loud and clear at the Jan. 10 Board of Supervisors meeting, in which both supervisors and members of the public were sharply critical of the test.

Some boaters considered the test’s tone condescending, and screeners raised issues with the amount of time it added to the process during the busy tourist season.

De Leon encouraged all Lake County residents to become ambassadors for the Lake County Invasive Mussel Prevention Program by learning how to protect Clear Lake and other local water bodies from the mussels and sharing that information with others.

In particular, the county urges boaters to use a few simple steps – cleaning, draining and drying all boats and equipment after leaving any water body – to keep local waters mussel free.

Information about the mussels and how to prevent their spread can be found at www.nomussels.com or through the Lake County Department of Water Resources, 707-263-2344.

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