LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – After a two-week closure, Clear Lake was reopened to motorized vessels this week by the Board of Supervisors, with boaters back out on the water and large fishing tournaments expected to begin soon.
On Tuesday, the board approved an updated version of its lake urgency ordinance that authorized an extended idle speed zone near shore during high water. County officials plan to use the document as the basis for a permanent ordinance to address future flooding incidents.
The Board of Supervisors voted on Feb. 14 to temporarily close Clear Lake to motorized vessels due to concerns about damage from boat wakes on flooded shoreline properties, as Lake County News has reported.
Water Resources Director Phil Moy and Sheriff Brian Martin went to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday with proposed changes to the urgency ordinance.
Originally, Moy had planned to ask the board to approve a change to the urgency ordinance that would have allowed contractors’ boats to get back out on the lake for the purpose of making repairs, including fixing docks and piers.
However, by the time of the Tuesday meeting, Moy asked the board essentially to change the urgency ordinance back to what essentially was a version that it had put in place on Feb. 7, but with a modification.
He said that the Feb. 7 version had established a giant “no wake zone” around the lake, from 2,500 feet from shore.
He suggested modifying that to establish an idle speed zone within a quarter of a mile of the shore when Clear Lake is at 8 feet Rumsey for 24 hours or more. The idle speed zone would roll back to within 400 feet of the shore when the lake stays at 7.99 feet Rumsey or lower for 24 hours.
“This is in no small measure in response to the public comment meeting that we had on Sunday,” Moy said, referring to a meeting he hosted at the courthouse to hear community members’ opinions on the lake closure and ideas for a permanent ordinance to deal with future flooding emergencies.
Moy said Martin had indicated he could enforce those rules, whereas he couldn’t enforce the “no wake” provisions.
The updated urgency ordinance is a more straightforward approach, immediately opening the lake to boating providing people could get access, as public launches around the county at that point remained closed, Moy said.
He added that it still protected lakeside properties if people follow the rules, and allows contractors and agencies doing waters samples to work on the lake.
“In my belief, it will form a solid basis for what will eventually become a more permanent ordinance,” he said.
During the discussion, Sheriff Martin explained that his agency’s difficulty in enforcing the no wake zone was due to “wake” not being defined in the Harbor and Navigations Code. The only place he found it defined is in federal law regarding manatee protection areas.
“I want to make sure that we’re clear that we deal with speeds and distances,” not the effects that boats have on the water’s surface, Martin said.
During public comment, Paul Racine, who has lived on the lake for many years and chairs the Clear Lake Rimlanders Coalition, questioned why the rules should go into effect at 8 feet Rumsey. “We’ve always used Rumsey 9 as serious flooding, not Rumsey 8,” he said, nothing there’s a “no man’s land” between the lake’s full level, at 7.56 feet Rumsey, and the 9 foot flood stage.
Sarah Ryan, the environmental director for Big Valley Rancheria, thanked the county for the changes to the ordinance, which will allow the tribe to return to its scientific monitoring on the lake.
At the Sunday meeting Moy hosted on the lake closure, Ryan had raised issue with the board closing the lake taking action without tribal consultation, pointing out how it had impacted the tribe’s lake testing work.
Moy said Thursday that people were getting back on the lake, and that his agency was working on getting ramps opened.
“There’s a lot of debris on the ramps,” he said, either from being blown there by the wind or left there when local officials pulled it from the water.
Moy said he’s getting a “mixed” reaction from the community regarding the decision to reopen the lake.
“The anglers are quite happy of course,” he said.
At the same time, “Not all the shoreline property owners are delighted with the thought of having boats out there,” he said.
Moy said the potential impact of boat impacts on the shoreline should be minimized if people follow the rules for the quarter mile idle speed zone.
Dee Cuney, who lives on the lakeshore in Lucerne with husband Joe, told Lake County News that their seawall was damaged on one of the very windy night nights when high waves were driven directly into and over it.
“The next morning we went out to check for damage and noticed that our seawall was pulled out about 8 inches from our deck, causing it to lean towards the lake,” she said.
“Now that the lake has gone down we can breath a little easier. We still have concerns about further damage from wind driven waves and boat wakes,” Cuney said.
As for the lake closure, Cuney said they wished the board had waited until the lake’s elevation was closer to 9 feet Rumsey, which they felt was a decision driven by lost revenue for local businesses.
She said she saw a bass fisherman follow the speed limit rules when heading out along the shoreline, but added that not everyone follows the speed limit and enforcement is difficult.
While fishing guides are concerned about their lost revenue, lakefront property owners are concerned about damage to their property, she said.
Fishing guide Bob Myskey of Nice, who spoke at the Sunday special meeting, told Lake County News this week that he was glad the Board of Supervisors listened to the community. He said the supervisors are both trying to make everybody happy “and do what’s right.”
Myskey added that he realizes the decision won’t make everyone happy, with there likely to be complaints from boat owners due to rules and restrictions and homeowners because of impacts on their property.
He added, “I think it was the right decision, because people already are coming,” and the reopening will allow two big upcoming bass fishing tournaments to move forward.
One of those tournaments, Myskey said, could bring as many as 180 boats to the lake, and such visitor numbers have a huge impact on the local economy.
He said he already had canceled all of his trips through March 12, explaining that he draws fishing enthusiasts from around the United States and the world who spend their vacations fishing for bass on Clear Lake.
“We are a world class fishery,” said Myskey, who has lived and fished on the lake since 1998, the last major flood on Clear Lake. He doesn’t remember the lake being closed at that time, but a 5 mile per hour speed limit was implemented.
He said he didn’t think it was boat wakes causing as much damage to shoreline properties as it was the wind that came from the east and south in recent weeks. Myskey said he watched those winds do damage to docks and piers in his own neighborhood.
Myskey said the boaters who are getting back on the lake have been mostly using the ramp at Konocti Vista Casino, as the public ramps remain closed.
“The boaters definitely need to exercise caution. There’s debris out there,” he said, adding they also don’t need to be causing water to go into someone’s back yard.
Myskey said he also agrees with the county setting up a protocol for future flood events, noting that he agrees with additional restrictions when the lake passes the 9-foot Rumsey level, which is flood stage.
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