Sales tax vote could determine Clear Lake's future

Lake County business, political and environmental leaders are united behind a tax measure aimed at fortifying Clear Lake against the recurring nuisance of stinking algae blooms and the potential for an even greater ecological assault by invasive mussels.

Measure L on the June 3 ballot would establish a half-cent sales tax expected to generate $24 million over the next 10 years, with every dollar committed to protecting the warm, shallow lake that is the county's economic lifeblood.

Funds are earmarked for ongoing algae control, defenses against a potential mussel invasion and a long-awaited restoration of 1,400 acres of wetlands and open water at the north end of the lake, a water quality project that's been pending for nearly 20years.

"The lake is why we're here," said Anthony Farrington, a Lake County native and 14-year veteran on the Board of Supervisors. "Our most precious resource."

The proposed "Healthy Lake Tax" needs two-thirds voter approval, and a similar measure fell more than 800 votes short with 63 percent support in November 2012.

But Farrington and other backers think they have a better chance this year, with an alliance of business, real estate, agriculture, public officials, tribal members and environmentalists supporting Measure L and nearly $136,000 in campaign donations.

There is no ballot argument against the measure and no organized opposition, nor any other taxes on the ballot, as there were in 2012, Farrington said.

Victoria Brandon, conservation director of the Sierra Club's Lake Group, said the ancient lake at the foot of a dormant volcano is the county's ultimate common cause.

"Everybody in Lake County realizes our natural environment is our biggest asset and the lake is No. 1," she said. "We have to take care of the lake for its own sake and to build a sound economic future for the county."

Clear Lake's murky, nutrient-rich waters host an abundance of wildlife, as well as recreational boaters, professional bass anglers and the descendants of Native Americans whose presence around the lake dates back at least 12,000 years.

"It's so neat to be out here," said Scott De Leon, the county's water resources director, standing on a levee at the edge of Rodman Slough, the lake's northernmost reach.

On a recent morning, spawning carp roiled the water's surface, a muskrat swam close to shore and pairs of courting grebes dipped their long necks and briefly walked upright across the water in a courtship ritual.

To the north lies a bright green 1,400-acre domain, much of it rice fields with some remaining homes located west of Highway 20 across from Robinson Rancheria Resort. It's the Middle Creek Project area, once a vast wetlands and extension of the lake, converted to dry land behind levees built from 1900 to 1958.

The proposed tax eventually would provide Lake County's $8 million contribution to a $48 million project that would breach the levees and restore the area to its natural state, covered by water up to 8 feet deep, a project conceived in 1995 to improve Clear Lake's water quality.

Middle and Scott creeks, which join in the project area, flow unimpeded into Clear Lake, carrying 70 percent of the phosphorus that reaches the lake and nurtures algae that diminish water clarity.

Warm weather blooms of blue-green algae, which is actually cyanobacteria, periodically pile up in stinking masses along the shoreline, offending the sensibilities of residents and tourists alike.

The restoration project would free the creeks from constraint by the levees, allowing the water to slow and spread out over 1,400 acres that would absorb about 40 percent of the phosphorus, according to county documents.

Tax proponents say the Middle Creek project, which still lacks federal funding, is the "single most important step we can take" to improve 68-square-mile Clear Lake.

With Reps. Mike Thompson, D-Napa, and John Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove, pursuing federal dollars, Lake County already has spent $6 million buying up property and removing structures in the area designated for flooding, De Leon said.

Ruben Rodriguez, who rents a modest mobile home in the project area, said he accepts the prospect of displacement from the verdant, quiet location with red roses climbing the trees by his front door.

"I feel like it was lake before; it probably should be lake again," he said. "I might feel different if I owned it."

His landlord, Redwood City businessman Bob Hansten, is one of about four landowners who have balked at selling their property.

The county low-balled him with an offer of $75,000 for his 5 acres, Hansten said, noting that it would cost $200,000 to purchase comparable property somewhere else in the county.