When the County of Lake hired Scott DeLeon to head the Water Resources Director, they made a good choice. Scott has a lifetime of history in Lake County going back to the days when his family had a resort when he was a child.
Presently, he is heading up the Water Resources Department which used to be a part of Public Works but now is out on their own. Essentially his department is in charge of Clear Lake as well as watershed protection and flood control. This area of responsibility includes dealing with quagga mussels and anything to do with the Lake.
Watershed also deals with water quality issues.
Scott described a huge issue with all the illegal marijuana growing because of pesticide and other chemical runoff which is getting into the Lake. Another big issue is the potential infiltration of quagga mussels into the Lake.
Dealing with quagga mussels is a one-person job at present, although there are a number of volunteers who make the job doable. While this program gets a lot of complaints, particularly by boaters, Scott said that solutions are being sought every day.
"If the quagga mussel gets into this lake people don't understand what a huge impact it will have," stated Scott.
He described other regions which had been infiltrated by the invasive creatures and talked about huge loss of property values.
"You can't give away properties on the lakeshore at Lake Mead nowadays," referring to the fact that the quagga mussels have invaded and really damaged that lake.
Furthermore, Scott described the shells of the dead mussels as being razor-sharp - much like shards of broken glass. This does not make for a beautiful body of water or a tolerable shoreline.
Another issue on Scott's list are the algae and weeds. In the early 1990s the quality of Clear Lake improved markedly to the point that, in May of 2009, we had the greatest water clarity on record. But warm water plus sunshines equals plant life and that takes the form of weeds and algae. After all, the water is pleasantly warm and there are high nutrient levels.
There are new things that help mitigate the algae bloom whenever that occurs again. For example, there are pumps that the department can put into place to break-up the algae before it begins to deteriorate and affect the air.
There are also experimental weed harvesting programs, one of which is going on in Middle Creek right now. Essentially, this program works much like an underwater lawn mower.
Furthermore, the Department is working on a boat lane project where specific areas of the Lake will be designated for boat traffic which will be kept in shape for boats but will also minimize their impact on the Lake.
Scott is also working on an integrated regional water management plan that includes other counties around the area.