The lake Casitas board will be having a meeting on the 20th of feb @ 5:30 pm at the Oak View community center, if it is available for the meeting, it is at 18 Valley Rd in Oak View. More details should be available at the Casitas municipal Water District web site. The Issue of Lakes closing is a big deal and will affect us all and possibly set precedence for other lakes. We as the bass community need to do our part to be a part of the solution and not just complain as all it does is generate animosity and complicate things. I am not a tournament guy but I know a lot of you are and I am trying to protect your tournaments as much as my recreational fishing. Tournament organizations can help out through education and better yet by not scheduling tournaments that go from an infected to an uninfected lake. There is a 28 day quarintine period and I know this is a drag and creates for more challenging logistics. How else can the Water Board be shown that the tournament organizers and anglers are willing to do what it takes to keep the mussells out of the lake. We need some volunteering from this community to grab the bull by the horns and make it happen. Clean and dry is but a small step and alone will not be the answer. I do not know much abut politics but I feel we need let those we put in office know how important this issue is. I will be looking in to what it takes be it a petition and collecting signatures or what ever else is necessary to forward to the appropriate politician and agency to make this happen. We have the resources to come together to make this happen in the tournament and tackle industry. I know this will be challenging but we need a way to track boats and the only way to get that done is on a national level. Water is extremely important and if we are to play on it we need to do our part and I will try to keep you posted and let you know more.
I am going to lake Casitas to talk to Ranger Rob.
Peace
Rich

So far the above posted date has not evolved into anything, maybe they could not book the facility, I do not know. The date shown on the CMWD website is the current date of the next meeting. It is to be held on the 13th of feb @ 4:30 pm. The meeting place is the Water Co building just north of the Shell station on Ventura Ave in Oak View and on the west side of the street. If anything changes I will let you know. I really appreciate this site, I must admit I am a bit suprised there is not that much talk about the issue. IT IS HUGE and may determine tournament and recreational fishing for a long time or lack of places to do it. I have written Diane Feinstein and have not heard back fom her yet, I hope I do soon as I really want to help solve this problem. For sure it will take additional funds and some type of policy or legislature. I have talked to the Rangers and General Manager and they do not want to close to outside boats they want to find a solution. Be CLEAN AND DRY in your livewells and pull the bilge plug always. Please do not lie about where you ahve been and how long ago you have been there to get in to an unaffected lake. I have already found 1 post on another site that has encouraged this. I feel very fortunate to have my career and its security and benefeits. I honestly do not know how you tournament guys do it with gas the way it is, raising kids, insurance and retirement planning. I take my hat off to you guys

PULL THE PLUG AND BE CLEAN AND DRY

Peace

Rich CELL (805) 407-3331 call if you need to

Hi rich,
Being that you live in oakview, how are the local merchants approaching this issue?
Its going to affect them if there is a ban on outside boaters. How much will it affect them, who knows.
I'm sure a lot of boaters come from outside the city and probably spend most of their funds in their own city. But there has to be quite a few right there in your community as well.
Are there any boat dealers, boat repair shops getting involved ? How about the corner market? I know Eric from Erics Tackle is pissed, he told me to bring my kids and he would give them some rods at the meeting. But the meeting is on the same day as my boys bball awards function. I would like to see all come together including our local tackle shops, malibu tackle, anglers den, erics, the tackle shop over in simi valley, hook line and sinker in santa barbara. Even our local bait makers, Mattlures, Ken H., BDB, I don't know squat about politics but how about Shimano, Dawai, Owner and such. Do the above stand to lose money if our local lakes are closed to outside boaters, I don't know. Don't they have an obligation to back us anglers up? I mean man, we spend big bucks on their products. It would be nice to have some big names get up to Oakview and help solve this issue.

I'm a nonboater but I still care

I feel this will affect all the merchants to some degree. I also feel it needs to be approched with intellect and professionalism. The ball is in the CMWD corner and I feel we need to monitor our actions. I feel it is better to help them find a way to deal with this issue effectively than to turn it in to us against them. My experience is usually when that happens it is harder to use science, logic and rationale to effectively mitigate the situation. Certainly it would hurt the economy but so would the Quagga affect the costs of running a drinking water resevoir and that is what it is, recreation is a privilege and the water supply far out weighs that. That is why I feel that cool heads can prevail here easier than hot heads. All we can do for know is research for a solution, politic and show up to attend meetings. I still have not heard back from Diane Feinstein but if and when I do I will take the appropriate action.

Peace

Rich

I hope I didn't sound like its "us against them". Its far from that. We need to work together, that's the only way to a solution.
I wonder how the lakes south of us handled their issue. Are the lakes that now do not allow outside boaters public drinking water reservoirs? What kind of actions did the anglers take at those lakes? Maybe we can learn something from them.

Rich,

Thank you for continuing to keep everyone here up to date.

I think the lack of response comes from a lack of understanding about how to fight this.

There are some very difficult issues surrounding this Quagga/Zebra mussel problem. To understand them, you have to look at each stakeholder's best interests. Let's break it down and look at the competing interests affecting the various constituencies:

Water District Board Member:

- Protect the water supply
- Provide recreational opportunities
- Maintain revenues from recreational activities
- Prevent major increases in maintenance costs (likely in the event of mussel infestation)
- Help maintain a balanced ecosystem in the watershed being managed

Park Ranger

- Protect the water supply
- Protect the lake and its ecoystem
- Keep their job
- Enjoy their job
- Appease management
- Appease recreational users

Fishermen

- Preserve access to lakes
- Protect the lake and its ecosystem
- Enjoy their time at the lake

Marina Operator

- Attract fishermen to the lake
- Rent out rental boats
- Sell food and supplies
- Protect the lake and its ecosystem

Looking at these goals, you can see the conflicts the potential mussel infestation creates. These conflicts are not just between fishermen and board members, they are internal to each of the shareholders involved.

The most obvious one from the fishermen viewpoint, is that while the mussels have the potential to damage the ecosystem of the lake by filtering out low level nutrients, that is not as bad as the alternative - which is to have no access to the lake at all. This is a "bad lake" vs. "no lake" problem.

From the Park Ranger's point of view, they are faced with the dilemma of guarding the lake vs. having a job. If they keep mussels out, and the lake stays open - they have a job. If they keep mussels out, and the lake is closed - they don't have a job. If they fail, and mussels get in, they may have a job. In the mean time, they are likely to take heat from the board members and the fishermen. Tough spot!

I have given this issue a lot of thought, and I still do not see a clear solution. I think that the people making decisions here are plagued by similar uncertainty, and their decision making process is suffering as a result.

It seems to me that what is needed most right now is expertise. Some person or group with real experience dealing with this problem. Someone who does not have a large bias toward any stakeholder group (in other words, not a fisherman, park ranger, or board member). Get them involved to facilitate the decision making process. Get qualified representatives from each of the stakeholder groups to the table with this qualified person or group to work toward the best alternative.

My view above is unlikely to mirror reality. In reality, I suspect this will become a legal issue. It won't be me who fights it, my life is to filled up right now, but I put a lot of trust in the fishing community to represent themselves well in this.

Whomever emerges as the leader in preserving fishing access in the face of the mussel problem will have a hard job, but I know the right people will step forward - whether it's national orgs like BASS and FLW, or local anglers and interest groups. Their challenge will be to balance the internal and external conflicts of the stakeholder groups involved. It will not be easy.

We will hear a lot more about this in 2008.

Another meeting will be held on tuesday march 4th. It will be held at the Nordoff High School cafeteria at 5:30. The address is 1401 Maricopa Hwy in Ojai. Take Ventura Ave north till you get to Maricopa Hwy at the Vons and go left. Go 3 blocks up and the high school is on the west side, also left. This meeting is at this location for an expected larger turnout. Please attend if you can and be as polite as possible. There is the opportunity to speak if you fill out the necessary forms when you get there. This is the BIG meeting and I expect it to be long and informative. I do not believe the water board has made up their mind yet on wether to close the lake to outside boats yet. Another post on another site states that they will make a decision on wether to ban outside boats at this meeting but I do not know if that is a fact. Ultimately there should be a solution to protect the drinking water resevoir and preserve recreation as well. I see a lot of info on other sites and am hoping that those upset individuals if they come will stay calm and not elevate tempers or emotions. Already I hear talk of litigation and the water board is in a very precarious position. This meeting should be very interesting to say the least.

Rich
CELL (805) 407-3331 Call if you need too.

feb 13, feb 20 or march 4.....are the first 2 meetings still on? or does the march 4 date cancelout the first 2 dates?

No meeting on the 20th of feb. Board meeting on the 13th of feb @ 4:30 at the CMWD building, enter in the back door. The next and big meeting is the 4th of may at Nordoff high. Disregard the first post all others are correct. They could not get the first date and arranged for the 4th of march instead.
Rich

Dont forget the meeting on the 4th a Nordoff @ 5:30.

Leave the beds alone and protect the spawn that aint real fishin.
Rich

update Rich!!

Dude I was so pissed getting banned today, I spent all my time till dark prepping the old boat so I could use that. It will probably be on WB tonight late and when I find out I will let you know.
Rich

Rich, maybe you can get your backup boat in to storage there at the lake. Or is the 1 year closure "immediate"?...

It is an immeadiate closure. I am # 91 on the list to get a spot to keep my boat at the lake and the guy that put my name on the list said you wont be able to bring the boat inside anyway because the lake is closed to outside boats. This will turn in to a legal issue for sure. How would you like to own one of the local tackle shops, boat buisnesses or be a guide. Not to mention the impact on the other less affected buisnesses.
Rich