Policies: Quagga Mussel Prevention

All vessels must be CLEAN, DRAINED, & DRY prior to being allowed to launch at Diamond Valley Lake. This is a zero tolerance policy.

All watercraft operators will be interviewed prior to launching at Diamond Valley Lake to insure the following requirements have been followed.

When leaving any waterbody, you must:

Inspect the boat, trailer and boating equipment and remove any plants and animals that are visible.
Drain water from the motor, livewell, bilge and transom wells while on land before leaving any waterbody. The veligers are microscopic and probably cannot be seen without magnification; therefore, draining all standing water and drying those areas is essential.
Empty your bait bucket in disposal container before leaving the waterbody. Never release live bait into a waterbody, or release aquatic animals from one waterbody into another.
Wash and dry your watercraft, tackle, downriggers, trailer, and other boating equipment to kill harmful species that were not visible at the boat launch.

ALL watercraft that have been in Quagga Mussel infested water must:

All vessels used in a contaminated waterbody for less than 24 hours must remain out of any waterbody and dry for 7 consecutive days prior to launching at Diamond Valley Lake.
A list of contaminated lakes can be found by visiting this page on California Dep't of Boating & Waterways website: Known Quagga & Zebra Mussel Locations in California
Completely drain all water from the motor and standing water in the bilge, livewells, bait tanks, and internal ballast tanks in the watercraft. Draining the standing water is essential before leaving the infested waterbody.
Rinse the bilge, livewells, and bait tanks with fresh water.
Flush the boat engine (especially stern drive boats with fresh water).

Wet Weather Boat Launch Policy:

We strongly encourage boaters to get their boat inspected and banded prior to wet weather to insure that their vessel will be able to launch on a rainy day.

However, to facilitate boating when pre-banding is not feasible, inspectors MAY allow a launch of an un-banded boat if the following conditions are met:

The boat arrives covered; AND
The interior of the boat is completely dry under the cover; AND
When the outboard is lowered for inspection, no water flows out; AND
The exterior of the boat is clean (i.e.: no mud, vegetation or rough services that may contain microscopic quagga or zebra mussels), AND
In the inspector's opinion the only exterior wetness appears to be road splash and/or rain water.

Please be aware, that the inspectors decision about whether an un-banded boat may launch on a rainy day is final. Although an inspector may allow a covered boat to launch, there is a chance a boater may be denied a launch based on the inspector's observations. If you would like to insure you can launch your boat on a rainy day, your best plan of action is to pre-band your boat.

Additional Resources

Download a printable copy of the above information.
Download a printable flyer from Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.
Visit the California Dep't of Fish & Game's page on Quagga & Zebra mussels.
Visit 100th Meridian Initiative for more on invasive aquatic species in the western states.