State budget proposal would tap $1 million for Clear Lake restoration

Lake County would receive $1 million to help restore and protect Clear Lake under a state budget proposal approved in a joint legislative committee Thursday in Sacramento.

The proposed budget is scheduled to be voted on next week by the Senate and Assembly before heading to the governor’s desk.

Sen. Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, and Assemblyman Bill Dodd, D-Napa vowed to work overtime to ensure it remains in the budget. The two earlier this year sought $2.4 million for Clear Lake but that proposal, Assembly Bill 367, stalled and is not expected to progress.

Improving the lake, which has suffered for decades from overactive, often-stinky algal blooms that have deterred recreation, is crucial to the county’s economic health, as well as the ecosystem, the legislators said.

McGuire called Clear Lake “the jewel of Lake County.”

The natural, wildlife-rich 68-square-mile lake is considered the county’s best asset and biggest tourist draw.

If finalized, the lake funding could be used for restoration of wetlands, water quality improvements and prevention of an invasion of a potentially devastating non-native mussel. Wetlands restoration is crucial to improving the quality of the lake’s water. The county has ongoing efforts to restore Clear Lake’s wetlands, including purchasing land along the northwest shore for the planned 1,650-acre Middle Creek wetlands restoration project.

The county needs much more than $1 million to accomplish its goals. County officials last year sought to raise $24 million over 10 years for lake enhancements through a sales tax but voters rejected that measure by a slim margin. It was the second such effort to be defeated in two years.

You can reach Staff Writer Glenda Anderson at 462-6473 or glenda.anderson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MendoReporter.