Water district closes boat access at 3 reservoirs amid golden mussels concerns

By Brandon Downs, John Ramos

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    California (KOVR) — East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) is keeping boat launches closed for the 2025 season at three of its reservoirs in an effort to prevent the spread of golden mussels.

Earlier this year, EBMUD closed boat access to the Pardee and Camanche reservoirs, both located in the Sierra foothills, until further notice.

In an update on Wednesday, EBMUD announced the boat launches at the two reservoirs, along with the San Pablo Reservoir in the East Bay, will remain closed throughout the 2025 season.

“So, we’ve had a couple of boats, but this one’s brand new. And now it’s stuck in the shop, can’t use it,” said Ryan Pennelly, as he showed off his trailered 22′ ski and wake surfing boat.

Pennelly, who lives in Tracy, has been spending summers at Lake Comanche, east of Lodi, since he was a little kid. It has become his family’s summer lifestyle as they spend nearly every weekend boating on the reservoir. But all that changed in February when EBMUD, which owns Comanche, abruptly shut down all its reservoirs to watercraft.

And it’s not just boats that are included in EBMUD’s ban. Any kind of watercraft, including kayaks, paddleboards, and even inner tubes are prohibited from their lakes — Life vests are not included in the ban.

“So, yeah, it’s really devastating to know that what you’ve always done, your lifestyle, is shut down for the summer and you’ve got to figure out something to do for fun,” Pennelly said.

The closures come after the golden mussel was found in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, marking the first time the mussels have been found in North America. Since then, it has been found in waterways in and around the Delta and has sent shock waves through water agencies like EBMUD.

Once the mussels begin breeding, they can quickly clog up pipes and machinery and will cover any surface they can attach themselves to. At Lake Comanche, marina worker Benny Flores has learned a lot about the creature in the past four months.

“They can breed about four or five times a year, and each time they breed, it’s like a million babies, or something like that,” he said. “And these new ones are so dangerous because the calcium level in the water can be really low for them to survive. And the oxygen doesn’t have to be very high for them to survive either. So, they can survive basically anywhere, they can do brackish, salt water, fresh water.”

And it’s believed they can survive for a month out of the water. So, others, like Folsom Lake above Sacramento, are requiring that all boats be cleaned, inspected and quarantined for 30 days on the premises before they can be launched. Pennelly thinks that’s a common-sense solution.

But EBMUD isn’t taking any chances. The primary purpose of their reservoirs is as a water supply, and they aren’t going to jeopardize their infrastructure in the name of recreation. It’s a bitter pill for Pennelly, who, like all boat owners, pays the state a yearly fee for mussel inspections of their watercraft.

“For the last 15 years we’ve been doing inspections, so how come all of a sudden we have a different situation that we can’t figure out,” he said. “So, that’s kind of the scary part that we’re seeing coming in the next couple of years of this whole situation.”

EBMUD says the closure will allow time for it to study how to prevent and respond to the golden mussel infestation. It says that while quarantines and decontamination stations help reduce the risk of spread, the risk still remains.

The public can still fish from the shores and rent boats. The Kids Free Dishing Day and Spring Derby at Camanche Reservoir will still happen.

And the ban doesn’t include boats with a permanent slip for Camanche that were in the water or in onsite storage when the boat closures went in place in November 2024. That decision makes Ryan Pennelly’s dad, Paul, one of the lucky ones.

“I usually pull my boat out, usually at the end of October, beginning of November,” he said. “But, for whatever reason, this year, I left it in.”

Because of that, he is one of about 200 private boat owners who can continue to use the lake as long as he never takes it out of the water. For at least the rest of the year, and who knows how long after that, it will feel like he has the lake all to himself.

“I feel like I could probably sell the boat with the slip,” he said, with a smile. “Make some money!”

So far, no golden mussels have been found in any of EBMUD’s reservoirs. And it looks like they intend to keep it that way for as long as possible.

A boating ban is being implemented at Folsom Lake in an effort to stop the spread of golden mussels.

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