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By
Barbara Henry
North County Times
April 10, 2006
CARLSBAD
---- A proposal to extend the ban on boats anchoring or
creating high wakes in Agua Hedionda Lagoon will go before the
City Council on Tuesday.
If the council approves the recommendation put forward by the
Southern California Caulerpa Action Team, the restrictions
would be extended until June 30, 2007, a city staff report
states. The city staff member responsible for the report and
the chairman of the action team could not be reached for
comment Friday afternoon.
While
the state team is recommending that the anchoring and
boat-wake restrictions remain in place, a third restriction
banning fishing in one part of the lagoon will be allowed to
expire this coming June, the staff report states.
All three restrictions have been in place since an invasive
algae known as Caulerpa taxifolia was discovered in the lagoon
in June 2000. Initially, the regulations were far more
restrictive ---- at one point all boats were banned from the
lagoon ---- but as eradication efforts appeared to show
success, the regulations were eased.
The infestation ---- an 11,000-square-foot area in the
lagoon's Snug Harbor area ---- was the first known West Coast
detection of the algae. Native to the tropics, the algae is
now taking over much of the Mediterranean and parts of the
Australian coastline. After Carlsbad's plants were discovered,
the algae was also found in Huntington Beach.
Carlsbad's eradication efforts included the pumping of
chlorine into tarped-over areas of the lagoon's bed.
Biologists have been conducting several surveys each year to
determine if any algae plants remain.
Members of the action team have said they may never be certain
how the algae got into Agua Hedionda Lagoon, but that they
believe the original plant came from aquarium water that was
dumped into the lagoon or a storm drain.
For a copy of the council report, visit: http://www.ci.carlsbad.ca.us/pdfdoc.html?pid=101
Tuesday's meeting is at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 1200 Carlsbad
Village Drive.
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