Resident Marty Martinez asked the San Benito County Board of Supervisors on May 21 to collaborate with the San Benito County Water District to fast track the reopening of San Justo Reservoir, which has been closed for over a decade.
Martinez, owner of Hollister Bait & Tackle, said at the May 21 meeting that the county needs to have a plan in place when the U.S. Department of Interior releases the environmental impact report on the zebra mussels infestation that closed the reservoir to the public in 2008.
Supervisor Jim Gillio said the Denver Technical Services Center is in the final phase of creating the eradication plan, which then will be peer-reviewed at the end of May. The plan will then go through the California Department of Fish and Wildlife for certification.
Martinez said the eradication method the water district plans on implementing, which involves adding potassium to the reservoir, won’t work.
“It’s kind of a waste of money,” he said. “They want like $3.1 million for something that we don’t know for a fact that’s going to destroy [the mussels] because the tests they have done are in the laboratory.”
Martinez proposed an alternate method: drain the reservoir and pipes for 30 days, which he said would eradicate all the mussels.
While the San Justo Reservoir has played an important role in the community for recreation, Martinez said it was more essential to youth because fishing teaches patience, stillness and hope. He added that it would help children stay away from gangs and illegal activities.
Supervisors agreed that all agencies involved with the reservoir need to be ready with a plan so that when the day comes, the U.S. Department of Interior can give the green light and move forward.
While a plan is being developed to eradicate the zebra mussels, Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz said other options should be explored. One possibility, he said, is to have a vendor rent fishing equipment on-site to eliminate the possibility of contaminating other water bodies.
“I don’t know what it is,” De La Cruz said. “It’s either they are afraid of smart ideas or just not willing to listen to us, but hopefully by packing this meeting they will listen and will start doing something.”
He was referring to a supervisors meeting planned for June 25, when a water board representative and a representative from Congressman Jimmy Panetta’s office are expected to be present, according to Supervisor Mark Medina.
Because San Justo Reservoir is a regional issue, it’s been complex and slow-moving, Supervisor Anthony Botelho said.
‘It’s been frustrating to see how slow government could work,” Botelho said. “Sometimes I think our county works slow; trying to get the federal government to move on anything is like watching a glacier melt.”
As much as the county has pressed to open the reservoir, Botelho warned of other challenges, such as finding the money to treat the water and convincing the water district to drain the reservoir. He said their focus is to distribute water to agriculture land and that the district faced pressure from other water districts to not allow public access for fear of spreading the infestation to other bodies of water.
“If they can keep that reservoir full, that’s what they are going to do,” Botelho said.
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San Justo Reservoir may not open for years, if ever, officials say