Are You Ready for Popeye, the Mussel-Sniffing Dog?

Oops, get that mussel off your boat before Popeye's roving nose sniffs it first.

That's the word from Sonoma County Water Agency, which is unleashing Popeye to randomly inspect boats at Lake Sonoma and Lake Mendocino between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. over the four-day holiday weekend.

Popeye will be at Lake Sonoma (3333 Skaggs Springs Road, Geyserville) on Friday, Aug. 31 and Saturday, Sept. 1, and at Lake Mendocino on Sunday, Sept. 2 and Monday, Sept. 3.

If a mussel is found on a boat, the boat will not be allowed to launch and the California Department of Fish and Game will be immediately notified, according to agency officials.

The inspection program, jointly sponsored by the water agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is to help prevent the spread of invasive quagga and zebra mussels from infesting North Coast waterways. 

Before entering the lakes, boaters will be asked to allow Popeye to inspect their watercraft for the tiny mussels that have devastated the environment, fisheries and infrastructure in 26 California reservoirs. 

Boats are the primary vector for the spread of mussels from infested waterways to non-infested waterways. 

The mussels first arrived in the Great Lakes from Europe in the 1980’s and have spread to many water bodies in the eastern and Midwestern United States, including California.

The first confirmed find of zebra mussels in California occurred in 2008 in San Benito County at San Justo Reservoir.  That reservoir is now closed to boating recreation due to the mussel infestation.

Quagga mussels have now been found in waterways within San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Orange counties.  The mussels are on the top of reservoir operator’s most wanted list and have caused more than $500 million in damage nationwide. 

Once infested, the mussels reproduce quickly to overtake a waterway and destroy its natural habitats and fisheries, clog water infrastructure and result in millions of dollars in maintenance costs. 

A mandatory boat inspection program is currently being planned to take effect in summer 2013 by a consortium of North Coast local governments and reservoir operators.