Roadside stations for inspections and decontaminization of motorized boats and watercraft are open for the boating season at five locations entering the Lake Tahoe Basin.

Locations and hours are:

· Meyers, at the junction of highways 50 and 89, 8am-8pm;

· Spooner Summit, at the junction of highways 50 and 28; open 8am-8pm;

Boat inspections are designed to keep AIS out of Lake Tahoe. Photo/LTN file

· Highway 267, at Northstar Drive south of Truckee, open 8am-6pm;

· Highway 89, at Alpine Meadows Road north of Tahoe City, open 8am-8pm;

· Highway 89, at Homewood Resort, open 8am-6pm.

All motorized boats and watercraft require inspection for aquatic invasive species prior to launching into Lake Tahoe. Quagga and zebra mussels are especially problematic, as they are known to multiply quickly and colonize underwater surfaces, including docks and piers, water supply and filtration systems, buoys, moored boats and even the beautiful rocky shoreline.

Boats and other watercraft are the largest transporters of AIS. Knowingly transporting AIS into Lake Tahoe is against the law, and violators may be subject to fines.

A reminder of the need for watercraft inspections occurred on April 18, when inspectors at the Meyers roadside inspection station detected more than 40 zebra mussels on a boat. A Lake Tahoe resident, who had offered the boat for inspection training purposes, had recently purchased it from the Great Lakes. The boat was immediately quarantined by the California Department of Fish and Game and decontaminated by Tahoe RCD staff multiple times using 140-degree hot water and until it was completely cleared of all signs of invasive species.

Annual watercraft inspection fees range from $35 for personal watercraft and vessels under 17 feet up to $121 for vessels over 39 feet. The annual “Tahoe Only” sticker fee remains unchanged from 2011. An additional fee of $25 is being charged for any boat requiring decontamination.