With temperatures forecast to hit triple digits this week, boat owners and kayakers may be thinking about a day on the water at Camanche Reservoir.
But that won’t be happening because the boat launch is closed for the entire 2025 season.
Taking a preventive measure, the East Bay Municipal Utility District is prohibiting the launch of private vessels and other watercraft on the 12-square-mile reservoir while authorities try to halt an infestation of golden mussels that was first discovered in the Port of Stockton.
The Camanche Reservoir, about 35 miles northeast of Stockton, is blocking more than just motorboats. The ban includes private kayaks and paddleboards as well.
Visitors will still be allowed to rent boats and kayaks from the marina. And the ban doesn’t affect boaters with permanent slips in the reservoir or those whose boats were in dry storage when the launches were closed late last year, the district said.
The reservoir remains open to fishing, swimming, hiking and camping along its 53 miles of shoreline.
Golden mussels are bivalves generally one-half to 2 inches in length that are threatening water systems across the Delta. They can encrust pipes and drains, clogging them.
Native to Southeast Asia and China, the bivalves are likely to have found their way into the Delta when a ship discharged its ballast water, authorities have said. They were discovered late last year in the Port of Stockton and O’Neill Forebay in Merced County, about 80 miles south of Stockton.
California’s Fish and Game Commission took emergency actions last year in an effort to stop the spread of the golden mussel.
The East Bay Municipal Utility District said it will use the closure to study how best to deal with the possibility of an infestation and said it “is developing a comprehensive plan to protect its fisheries, recreational facilities, and power and water supply infrastructure.”