Still trying to get rid of them from Lake Davis.
Public workshop set on pike-purge plan
Published 12:00 am PDT Tuesday, April 24, 2007
The California Department of Fish and Game will host a public workshop Wednesday about the chemical compounds it plans to use to eradicate northern pike in Lake Davis.
The 6 p.m. workshop at Portola Baptist Station will focus on the effects on surface water and groundwater of rotenone, an organic poison designed to kill all fish in the Plumas County reservoir.
Officials also will explain their plans to protect human and environmental health during the chemical treatment planned for September after Labor Day weekend, said Steve Martarano, a Fish and Game Department spokesman.
California Department of Health Services officials are still reviewing public comments about their tentative determination that the chemicals will not have an adverse impact on the quality of water in Lake Davis, used as an alternate drinking water supply by the Portola and Grizzly Lake Resort Improvement District, said Lea Brooks, a department spokeswoman.
Fish and Game Director Ryan Broddrick announced plans earlier this year to lower the reservoir to about 45,000 acre-feet and apply liquid rotenone to rid it of pike, a Midwestern native species.
The $12 million project will use a liquid formulation of rotenone not available in 1997, when the department used a combination of liquid and powdered rotenone in an unsuccessful attempt to eradicate pike.
This week's workshop is the first in a series that will focus on the economic impacts of the poisoning, forest closures and a schedule for the project.
