Lake County supervisors approve appeal, letters and interim budget to keep Clear Lake mussel monitoring funded

The Lake County Board of Supervisors on a 5-0 vote affirmed continuation of a formal appeal of a denied state grant application, authorized letters to state leaders urging restoration of funding, and approved an interim budget amendment to keep ramp monitoring for quagga and zebra mussel prevention operating at Clear Lake.

The action came after the Lake County Watershed Protection District and the county’s Water Resources Department were notified that their 2025 quagga and zebra mussel infestation prevention grant application through the California State Parks Division of Boating and Waterways would not be funded in the current cycle. Water Resources Director Pawan Upadhyay told the board the application requested $399,520 and that “our application was denied due to a clerical oversight, as opposed to any substantive concern or deficiency,” and that staff filed a formal appeal on July 24, 2025.

The board approved three sets of measures to shore up operations while the appeal and additional advocacy proceed: (1) affirmation of the formal appeal process; (2)…