6 boats caught attempting to launch illegally onto Lake Tahoe

Lake Tahoe officials have caught six boats attempting to launch on the water illegally so far this summer, officials announced, and it’s only June. The summer season is still ramping up to the Fourth of July weekend, the busiest holiday of the year for Lake Tahoe. 

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The crackdown comes amid an all-hands-on-deck fight to protect Lake Tahoe against the invasion of golden mussels, an aquatic invasive species that was discovered in California two years ago and has since been spreading rapidly. If golden mussels get into Lake Tahoe, that would destroy the ecosystem and turn Tahoe’s clear water green. Environmental watchdog Keep Tahoe Blue said recently: “There is no greater threat today to Tahoe’s iconic water quality than the golden mussel, which is already on the lake’s doorstep.”

Lake Tahoe has launched a widescale defense against golden mussels, requiring that every motorized boat get inspected and decontaminated before it can launch on the water. All boats are inspected to make sure they are clean, drained and dry, so that no hitchhiking aquatic invader can sneak into Tahoe’s waters. Mandatory boat inspections have been a steadfast rule in Tahoe since 2008 and staff have inspected more than 120,000 boats and trailers, according to a news release Thursday from the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.

Last year, the threat of golden mussels brought a renewed sense of urgency and Tahoe responded by escalating its defenses, requiring that boats also get decontaminated with extremely hot water, to kill off any mussels that are hiding in hard-to-reach spots. 

The six boats were caught with inspection seals that had been tampered with, according to the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency release, indicating they had attempted to bypass Tahoe’s boat inspections. The seals are checked every time a boat launches into the lake. 

“We are investigating and moving each case through the enforcement process to make sure we are maintaining the highest level of protection for Lake Tahoe,” the agency’s aquatic invasive species program manager, Dennis Zabaglo, said in the release.

Boats must stop at one of the three inspection stations in the Tahoe Basin — Meyers, Spooner Summit or Alpine Meadows — before they can launch on the water. After they’ve gone through the checkpoint, staff install an inspection seal on the boat, certifying that it passed and is cleared for launching. The seal includes a security wire that is fixed to the boat and trailer and a serial number, which boat inspectors catalog.

When the boat pulls up to a launch point, workers are required to check the inspection seal, to make sure the boat is certified and that the seal is still intact before launching. This system ensures that a boat hasn’t been in any other body of water between the inspection and when it launches in Lake Tahoe.

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The consequences for skirting the rules are steep. Last year, staff at Obexer’s Marina on Lake Tahoe’s West Shore caught a tampered-with seal on a boat that was attempting to launch illegally. The boat owners agreed to a settlement of $5,000. 

If the incident had resulted in harm to Lake Tahoe, such as being a vector for golden mussels, the penalties would have been “significantly greater,” officials said in a February news release. 

The close calls are a sign that Tahoe’s vigilance is paying off. So far this summer, inspectors have intercepted two boats that had golden mussels onboard, before they were able to go into Lake Tahoe, officials said in the Thursday release. 

As summer ramps up with tourists and locals alike flocking to the beaches, officials are also focusing on nonmotorized watercraft, such as kayaks and stand-up paddleboards. Nonmotorized vessels are not required to be inspected or decontaminated. Nonetheless, they could just as easily bring golden mussels to Lake Tahoe, which would be a devastating blow to the lake’s environment. 

That’s why officials are urging everyone, not just motorized boats, to clean, drain and dry their gear before pushing their boats into the water. 

“What we know right now is that the inspection program is working as it is designed to,” Zabaglo said.

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