Subscriber Comments for
No Swim Zone

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 293766	2012-07-03 12:06 PM
Are we not allowed to swim in the lake? Why not?
COMMENT 293767	2012-07-03 12:07 PM
766- No, and because we drink that water.
COMMENT 293770	2012-07-03 12:13 PM
if your swimming in the santa ynez river and crap your pants its cool though. Such a stupid rule. They treat the water you drink at Water Treatment Plants like Cater in SB. "No swimming in lake." Worst rule of all time...
COMMENT 293772	2012-07-03 12:19 PM
So if I pee in a creek feeding Cachuma lake, that's OK. But if I take a quick dip in Cachuma lake to cook off on a hot day, that's not OK. However, I can kayak on Cachuma just so long as I don't tip over and end up in the lake...who makes these rules up?
COMMENT 293773	2012-07-03 12:19 PM
This question was raised at the recent renewal of the Federal Land Use Managment Plan when it expired after 50 years since the lakes creation. It took 8 years to write (and is only for 25 years). A few other activites were added to the lake, such as kayaks and canoes, but swimming was not included. I can understand some safety issue of mixing boat and swimmers, but even when a separte area was proposed it was vetoed.
COMMENT 293777	2012-07-03 12:27 PM
I agree that it's a stupid, stupid rule given you can swim in all the tributaries to the lake, but can you imagine what a destination that would become for tourists and locals alike if you could swim there?? SO many more people and SO much more traffic...no thank you!
COMMENT 293779	2012-07-03 12:29 PM
That water is gross, anyway. If you knew the coliform counts for that lake you'd not only not want to swim in it, you'd think twice about drinking from your tap even though they sanitize the water at treatment plants. The run off to Lake Cachuma is all from cattle ranches and such.
COMMENT 293780	2012-07-03 12:29 PM
The filtering system in use today is so sophisticated it could take pure urine and turn it into pure water. I am told by peeps in the know that they just don't want it to become another nacimiento / san antonio drunken bedlam type atmosphere. Which if you think about it, it would immediately become.
COMMENT 293784	2012-07-03 12:44 PM
293779 - I'm sure the coliform count in the lake is less than in the water just off our beaches. I never understood why they allow boats in the water but not people. I guess gas and oil are better than sweat and pee.
COMMENT 293786	2012-07-03 12:46 PM
I alerted the Rangers?? What possible harm could be caused by swimming in the lake. Such a bizzare rule. There in lies my biggest complaint with California in general - a need to control every aspect of its citizen's lives. When I moved here four years ago from the southeast I expected an earth loving but otherwise laissez faire, live and let live attitude. What I've found is the most restrictive, controlling, anti-freedom place I've every been. I love the climate, mountains, and ocean but you can have the rest. And by the way, in the rest of the country recreational use of lakes includes swimming and the drinking water derived from those lakes meets or exceeds the EPA's drinking water health standards just like here in California. Sorry for the rant, but I was hoping for so much more freedom from this great state. And yes, for all you folks that will tell me if I don't like it, then leave it that's what I plan to do.
COMMENT 293787P	2012-07-03 12:48 PM
780, what gets pumped to my house is far from pure. I don't drink or cook with it.
COMMENT 293788	2012-07-03 12:49 PM
Could be a Baptisim???
COMMENT 293791	2012-07-03 12:54 PM
I've grown up around the lake and as a child I'd fall in while fishing on a hot day in a cove. I wouldn't want to get caught swimming in it by I was young and didn't care. I always wondered how 2 stroke motors could piss gas/oil mixed in the lake but the public couldn't swim. I'm sure the lake would look like redrock in a short period of time with loads of immigrant families leaving trash and dirty diapers floating in the lake and around the recreating areas. They can't afford the canoes or kayaks/boats but an swimming. Let the rule stand. The day it's removed the lake will turn into something worst than nacimento and I don't want to see that happen.
COMMENT 293793	2012-07-03 12:56 PM
Beginner kayaker. The golf course also pollutes the water upstream.
COMMENT 293798	2012-07-03 01:04 PM
I hope the fish don't go to the bathroom in the lake!
COMMENT 293805	2012-07-03 01:29 PM
OMG! Someone touched the water!!! We need to find a new water supply immediately!!!!! /sarcasm Dumbest. Rule. Evar.
COMMENT 293809	2012-07-03 01:32 PM
3798 - what are you talking about? Rancho San Marcos is not a measurable source of pollutants. You on the other hand? Cachuma would deteriorate quickly into a beer can, motor boating mess if they allowed swimming. Hundreds of wake boarders and power boats would jam the lake and yes, there would be a ton of garbage and dirty people with no regard for the environment out there every day.
COMMENT 293811	2012-07-03 01:35 PM
It's been a rule as long as I can remember. The rangers were always hanginng around the the launch ramp and threatened to write you up if you step on to your trailer while bringing in your boat. I nicknamed it "Lake NO-NO!"
COMMENT 293812	2012-07-03 01:37 PM
The last time we took the kayaks up to the lake, the attendant at the front entrance made us wait 20 minutes until he had time to bother with inspecting the boats. In the meantime, everyone who had a power boat was allowed to go right past us and not wait at all. Our yaks are kept indoors, and not left out to weather and collect dirt and debris; and yaks don't stream fuel and oil into the water like power boats do. If you observe the power boats when they are started up (black smoke billowing, oil pools on the top of the water...) there is no way on earth anyone could justify allowing those, but not yaks (or swimmers). The staff at the lake have made it such a nightmare that we have given up going to the lake. It can take an hour just to get the boats onto the lake with all of the red tape. Now we just go down to the harbor. Also not the cleanest water but at least we are not treated like unwanted (though paying) guests!
DILLYDALLY	2012-07-03 01:41 PM
The water quality issue isn't entirely smoke and mirrors either. My understanding is that the pollutants from gas engines are easier to filter out during processing than human pollutants. Same with cross species biological pollutants (fish poo), they are less problematic than human pollutants (we are not as susceptible to bacteria carried in fish crap then people crap). Many municipalities have the same rules regarding their lakes and for the same reason. On the other hand I am mostly glad for the rule because the population that Cachuma draws from is huge and it would be unusable for anything but speed boats and drinking on the weekends.
COMMENT 293821	2012-07-03 01:48 PM
I'm ok with the no swimming rule. If you have ever seen Lake Nac or Lake San Antonio on 4rth of July weekend, you probably wouldn't want to drink water out of those lakes.
MACSCIDOR	2012-07-03 01:53 PM
I remembered a news-report on this 'drinking-water-topic' [at another location]_so I Googled "drain reservoir" : 15 June 2011 .... the Portland Water Bureau made the decision Wednesday to drain 7.8 million gallons of drinking water from a Mount Tabor reservoir .... because a 21-year-old Molalla man was caught on camera urinating in one of Portland's uncovered reservoirs -- one that provides water to a majority of Portlanders.
COMMENT 293827	2012-07-03 01:58 PM
Was that a dog with swimming them also?
COMMENT 293809	2012-07-03 02:07 PM
Portland does not treat its water. Its pure and clean and straight from the mountains. Its also the best tasting and softest water you'll find. The opposite of SB water which is about as hard as you'll find anywhere.
REXOFSB	2012-07-03 02:10 PM
The no-swimming rule at Cachuma has been extant since the lake was created back in the '50s. When I was a very small child, someone fell into the lake from a rowboat or something and went missing. The locals were freaked that a corpse was floating around in their water supply, so a huge number of people switched to home-delivered bottled water. Over the ensuing weeks, the incident was gradually forgotten and people started canceling their water delivery. And then a couple of weeks afterward, they found the body--which by then had been in the lake a long, LONG time. So everyone immediately switched back to bottled water again. That memory stayed with me since then, which is probably the reason I drink Coca-Cola instead of water to this day.
COMMENT 293844	2012-07-03 02:49 PM
wow more of the Santa Barbara snobby attitude..it would turn into a beer can..blah blah blah Well you can still camp and hang out and fish etc so guess what? people going in it wouldn't change that. SB is just full of cry babies who don't want to let people have any fun. And I was born and raised here so I can say that. haha!
COMMENT 293848	2012-07-03 03:04 PM
Someone told me that the reason for no swimming is that the mercury from the many (ongoing) natural mercury deposits that were mined in the area results in lake bottom sediments that would be resuspended if people were allowed to wade in or stand on the bottom.
COMMENT 293855	2012-07-03 03:33 PM
MACSCIDOR - Mount Tabor reservoir is a tiny puddle compared to Cachuma. In fact, you could fit over 8500 Mount Tabor reservoirs in Cachuma Lake. Not a good comparison. 7.8M gallons fits in a tank the size of an Olympic swimming pool, if it was as deep as it is wide.
COMMENT 293876	2012-07-03 04:31 PM
I alerted the rangers!!!! --really?
COMMENT 293877	2012-07-03 04:31 PM
No one likes a tattletale.
COMMENT 293878P	2012-07-03 04:31 PM
Rangers are equipping a stunboat with electrofishing anode to bring the joys of galvanotaxis to those who dare to swim. Feeling lucky? Now get outta my lake.
COMMENT 293879	2012-07-03 04:31 PM
I personally don't care one way of the other is Lake Cachuma is bather friendly or not. If I want to go dunk in a cold body of water the Pacific Ocean is good enough for me.... or even the SY River upstream from the Lake. So what's the big whoop? A few crybabies don't get to do what they want when they want? Figures. As for the OP posting his/her tales of tattling!! My gosh, how old are you? Do you expect a gold star and a pat on the head? This message will destruct in .....1,......2,......._____.
COMMENT 293881	2012-07-03 04:36 PM
772: Why would you think that it is ok to pee in a creek?
COMMENT 293902	2012-07-03 05:33 PM
It's simple. Water treatment plants use sodium hypochlorite to treat water(bleach). If you have human contact you would need to increase the amount.To much use of sodium hypochlorite in water from a open reservoir causes trihalomethanes to form.To much of this in your water and you wont pass fed. and state rules.Hope this is helpful.Keep your stinky bottom out of our lake.
COMMENT 293924P	2012-07-03 06:31 PM
The water does taste better in Portland but they do treat their water with Chlorine and Ammonia, they don't filter it which may have caused the misconception. The water here is hard though what do you expect, although still better tasting than the desal plant provided when it was around.
BIG BLOCK	2012-07-03 07:51 PM
I remember in the late 50s after they built the dam. There was a swimming area below the dam. It even had a float. I wonder what happened to that?
COMMENT 293954	2012-07-03 08:42 PM
I agree with the person from the southeast (786), and I've been here since 1975. The political/social atmosphere of CA,and SB is not consistent with life, as they say, at least not life as I envision it. Of course, not having lived in other areas (save a year here and there) perhaps the rest of the US is now full of overbearing control freaks who would really rather be right than happy, or anyone else to be happy either. I looked forward to the time "our" generation would be "in control", now I see what "we" created, the old days look to have been better in many ways.
COMMENT 293878P	2012-07-03 09:04 PM
Root cause: 40 million people in California, half of them in SB County and to the South. 34.4 million registered vehicles in CA as of 2009. MILLION. Too many people, too many cars. I was born about 150 years too late.
COMMENT 293962P	2012-07-03 09:41 PM
You can often tell the young and thoughtless by their posts complaining about "fun" activities that don't take into account their potential impact on the rest of the world. Fireworks, loud music, alcohol, drugs, disobedience at all levels. As long as they can do what they want, they don't care about others. It's often couched in terms of "freedom", but it's just ego, writ large.
COMMENT 293966P	2012-07-03 11:31 PM
Glad you reported them. Cachuma is pristine, except for the odd boat here and there. It is true we can filter the water, but it will be blighted by all sorts of scum polluters along with the well intentioned swimmers. Scum ruin everything. Let's face it, the public campgrounds are always a mess and people leave trash on the beach at Refugio constantly and cachuma with the trashy people leaving diapers and BBQ detritus everywhere basically make anyone normal feel out of place. The scum rule the roost at these places in summertime. Gotta love the campers with satellite dishes- wouldn't want to miss the game eh?!
COMMENT 293966P	2012-07-03 11:33 PM
877- no one likes a freeloader either! (paid subscriber)
COMMENT 293970P	2012-07-04 12:12 AM
To the kayaker complaining about the wait to get in Cachuma--you must have been there on an off off day because it takes nowhere near that to get inspected & launch. Boats only cruise through if they have a security tag, that indicates the boat has already been through inspection for invasive mussels. Kayakers don't get those tags because the tags ensure the boat hasn't been removed from the trailer & launched elsewhere (inc. potentially contaminated lakes), and you can't do that with a kayak.
COMMENT 293979	2012-07-04 07:05 AM
Whether you can swim in a reservoir or not has more to do with where the community got the money to build the damn than it has to do with water quality. Cachuma was built with federal funds and that comes with federal rules, so no swimming in the water source. Lopez and Nacimiento lakes were built with other funds so you can swim there. There is no difference in the quality or safety of the water, just bureaucratic rules and regulations. Lakes that have not allowed swimming usually get taken over by fisherman. The fisherman are loathe to have the rules change once the mortgage is paid off since by that time they see it as "their" lake. That is what happened when our morgage was finally paid off. Thank the fisherman that you can't swim in the lake when the temps reach 100.
COMMENT 293987	2012-07-04 07:34 AM
779 As a youth I camped and hiked much of the back country behind lake Cachuma. Most of th tributaries do not flow from cattle country: There are very few grazing operations and cattle ranches anywhere near the source of water flowing into Cachuma. There are many downstream from the lake. The was, as one writer said, a number of open mercury mining operations upstream which would not be allowed today. There is also a lot of natural Arsenic in some of the land upstream from Cachuma. The prohibition against swimming is legally a result of Bureau of Reclamation rules covering drinking water resevoirs and lack of practical motivation to lift it and have the character of the park and lake change drastically as some writers have said.
COMMENT 293990P	2012-07-04 07:47 AM
786 Don't let the door hit you on your way out. :-)
COMMENT 294018	2012-07-04 09:35 AM
No swimming in the lake probably has more to do with no $$$$ available for managing swimmers (life guards, rescue folks, out houses, trash collection, etc etc) than the problem of folks peeing in the water.
SCEPTIC	2012-07-04 09:48 AM
This is a stupid law with no rational purpose. It's similar to the decades-old ban on non-powered watercraft such as kayaks and sailboats, while motorboats were allowed. If sediment from the Sunbird mercury mine were a health issue, swimming in the river would be banned as well. There isn't a risk of human bacteria species polluting a body of water as large as Lake Cachuma.
COMMENT 294044	2012-07-04 10:48 AM
I remember swimming in the designated area for swimmers in about 1967. It seems bass-ackwards that motorized craft can pollute those waters, but I can't swim there. I think we need to get an official explanation of why not. Duh, we know you're not suppose to pee in or near rivers & lakes & water reservoirs (100 yards away, I think). I would LOVE to see gas motors banned & have people learn to sail... oil is polluting EVERYTHING-Yucky...of course it's not as serious as our nuclear power plants' practice of releasing radioactive steam! No one even talks about it! Much bigger prob.
COMMENT 294055	2012-07-04 11:48 AM
If you buy bottled water, you're a sucker. The water coming from your tap is safer.
COMMENT 294059	2012-07-04 12:00 PM
When Lopez lake was being built the word was that they were building a separate pond before the water intake to allow the contaminats to settle and be removed. This made swimming in the main lake legal. Water is pumped directly from Cachuma so no swimming. We were told that is what caused different rules for Lopez, Santa Margarita, Nacmiento, and Cachuma.
DEE D	2012-07-04 12:39 PM
In a drought prone region with few water resources and a large population - think the millions in LA Co who count SB Co as a recreation area - the rule is probably necessary, though sad. I am glad they added the kayaks and canoes, and would vote to add SUP boards, as all three craft, operated with even a modicum of skill, rarely result in a dousing. Also, they charge a pretty good fee for each craft, and that automatically limits excessive use. Use discretion in civilian policing - there was no immediate danger to anyone, and the rangers would get to them eventually if they keep it up. Hopefully they, too, exercise discretion and don't make juvenile delinquents out of innocent youth. We really don't want to live in a nation of meanies. Also, first tell the folks the activity is off limits. Then, you've done your bit, the rest is up to them. Just my thoughts.
COMMENT 294078	2012-07-04 01:10 PM
I actually heard another rumor about the no swimming rule. Not sure where I heard it, and not sure I believe it... but I remember hearing something about objects in the lake, whether there were pipes, old equipment, etc... but that those objects were a safety issue and not safe. When we would go fishing one our boat, it would get really hot, instead of jumping in the water, we would just pull up buckets of water and dump them over our heads to get cool.
CORKY	2012-07-04 01:41 PM
I was pretty sure you weren't supposed to swim and told a friend that after she and her kids went up there and some went swimming because others were in the water, so it must have been ok. they reasoned. Are there No Swimming signs posted? I think it would be a big liability to have swimmers unless there were lifeguards.
CORKY	2012-07-04 01:44 PM
I was pretty sure you weren't supposed to swim and told a friend that after she and her kids went up there and some went swimming because others were in the water, so it must have been ok. they reasoned. Are there No Swimming signs posted? I think it would be a big liability to have swimmers unless there were lifeguards.
COMMENT 294130	2012-07-04 04:18 PM
Those who ridicule the rules and those of us who prefer the no-swimming rules remain, fail to understand that there are those of us who would also prefer to see no motor-boating allowed in Cachuma either. To those who have no problem with allowing potentially thousands of visitors to "swim" in our drinking water supply, bear in mind that well-documented surveys have revealed that when polled anonymously, over 60% of those who swim in public lakes, ponds, and municipal swimming pools, admit to urinating, and occasionally spewing diarrhea right into that same water. You naysayers all OK with that in your tap water? I choose to consume only pure distilled water because I don't need all the micro-organisms and bacteria, together with the Intestine-destroying Chlorine and Fluoride added to the water at the dictate of our public officials.
COMMENT 294143P	2012-07-04 05:12 PM
Earlier this year an experimental opening of the Lake to SUP was tried. It was cancelled shortly after due to the number of SUPers in the water rather than on their boards. Were they all novices?
COMMENT 294156	2012-07-04 05:55 PM
In the mid 90's I was on UCSB's crew (that's the rowing team). We practiced and raced at Cachuma all year long. One terrible stormy day, we were caught in large waves, and our boat swamped (sank). We had to swim it to the shore....where the ranger was waiting and ticketed each of us. We all had to pay the fine before the team was allowed back on the water.
ACF	2012-07-04 09:25 PM
To comment ...786: It isn't just Calif. that is "controlling." I was in NJ once and took a trip to the shore, where I ran into a sign that said "No shoes on the beach"!
COMMENT 295537	2012-07-09 12:07 PM
well said 902. (Water treatment plants use sodium hypochlorite to treat water(bleach). If you have human contact you would need to increase the amount.To much use of sodium hypochlorite in water from a open reservoir causes trihalomethanes to form.To much of this in your water and you wont pass fed. and state rules.) Straight and to the point. Be happy we have a lake to provide ANY water and swim elsewhere. It would do us all good to educate ourselves instead of complaining about "stupid rules". Lets look ahead instead of living in the present all the time.

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