Welcome to the prettiest little ‘Ag’ station in the world. Once upon a time this structure, reminiscent of something I.M. Pei would have designed, was un-beatifically located close to town, near the high school at the intersection of Interstate 80 and Hwy. 89. In January of last year a new station in a new location was opened to a less than welcoming response, in part due to its physical appeal which translated, rightly so, to a big budget somewhere in the tune of $19.6 million.
The questions from our readers and also directed to the California Department of Food and Agriculture began almost immediately.
Why the new station?
What was wrong with the old one?
Why don’t they stop my car?
Is this a good use of our tax dollars?
Is this all about the threat of Quagga Mussel infiltration and, if so, why the car-inspection stations?
And my personal favorite, how much are we, the taxpayers, doling out for those hats? (They are nice; leather with a cool badge.)
The answers (with the exception of the hats) are all about efficiency.
According to Jay Van Rein, Spokesman for the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the facility was relocated out of town to Interstate 80, right before the Overland Trail exit, to alleviate the unnecessary flow of traffic from local daily commuters through the station. Similarly inspectors become familiar with ‘regulars’ pulling through the stop points and, for that reason, do not stop them. This is not to say that they do not stop non-commercial vehicles. Authorities do stop private vehicles sporting license plates from high-risk areas with pest-control problems and often field questions from drivers asking if it is ‘OK’ to bring in specific plants, weeds and seeds to California. When the answer is a solid ‘no’ (as it often is) there are container units on-site to dispose of the materials.
Red flags for the inspectors include motor homes that may not know what they have picked up during their cross-country sojourns, and boats, infamous carriers of the Quagga Mussel.
The Quagga Mussel has proved to be both a blessing and a curse to the budget-strapped inspection stations in California. Historically meant to provide control of agricultural pests – most predominantly the Mediterranean fruit fly which attacks fruits and vegetable crops – our California agricultural safeguards now operate as a screening area for this lake, river and reservoir-based anomaly. In January 2007, Quagga Mussels were discovered in Nevada’s Lake Mead with further tests indicating they may have been there for as long as four years. They have now been found scattered across California in, among other locations, the Colorado River, Lake Havasu, Lake Mathews and San Vicente Reservoir. The mussel’s impact on the environment is not classified as ‘agricultural’ but the long-range devastation is just that.
Says Van Rein, ‘The Quagga Mussel issue is very top-of-mind. It is not just an agricultural pest. Plants are damaged, but also our pumping systems, which are clogged and thus impede our water supply, and they indirectly infest crops that need a steady, healthy flow of water.’
Due to this rising and legitimate concern, the state had a couple of options: Have the California Department of Water or Department of Fish and Game build their own inspection centers and task forces or utilize the existing agricultural check-points to police the spread of this epidemic. With more than 100 boats docks to inspect and the prohibitive cost of building more inspection-stations targeted at the Quagga Mussel, the new utilization of the agricultural stations was deemed a more effective and convenient way to spend the already allocated tax dollars.
And this is what the California agricultural stations are doing. Numbering 16 statewide the stations begin with stopping boats arriving from, the most part, the Great Lakes and Florida regions.
‘It is not an ideal fit, but we have the infrastructure in play,’ says Van Rein, ‘We provide preventive investigations. With regards to the Quagga Mussel threat, it would cost a lot more if it resulted in eradicating the problem than preventing it. Costs of cleaning up Lake Tahoe would far over-see the costs of manning a station. It’s preventative medicine.’
In other cost and safety measures of note: the new station is co-located with the California Highway patrol station which means, unlike the old days, commercial vehicles only have to make one stop which means less changing of lanes for the big rigs.
Still no word on the hats…
Don’t Move a Mussel
A check-list to ensure you are coming home clean through the agricultural check-points and will not be met with any Quagga-mires.
1) Hose down your boat and engine and inspect and remove all plants, fish and animals from any water gear you have used including clothing.
2) Wash off mud and dirt which can carry un-seen mussel larvae.
3) Clean your equipment with salt or hot water above 104 degrees Fahrenheit.
4) Visit protectyourwaters.net for more information and recipes to help you thoroughly clean your equipment.
5) Make sure the family dog is not unintentionally smuggling any stowaways.
