In a surprise move for Southern California anglers, water agencies have closed a number of local lakes to boat use. Fearing the spread of Quagga mussels and concerned about the liability of clearing pumps and intakes, authorities in four counties have banned all boat traffic from  lakes Casitas, Westlake, Wolford, and Cachuma.

They consume so much plant life that the water turns clear, allowing sunlight to stimulate the growth of a blue-green algae that can cause taste and odor problems in drinking water..

We’re not overly surprised, it’s a foregone conclusion that reliable drinking water will beat out anglers or migratory fish, it may put a crimp in boat sales over the long term.

“My water district customers are not going to feel good about paying for something that is introduced by recreational activities over which they have no control,” Charles Hamilton, general manager of the Carpinteria Valley Water District, told Santa Barbara County officials.

We think of “aquatic hitchhikers” as a nuisance, requiring a pungent yet brief dose of Formula 409 or bleach, but the inability to remove them once entrenched may hold larger ramifications in the future.

While it’s not likely to include a cavity search in the parking lot by sterile technicians wielding canisters of Agent Orange, most of the foreign hosts have been “friendly” – at some point that may not be the case.

Some large arsed toothy sumbitch laying on the bottom waiting for you to take your sweater off – because it likes emergers ..