The no-swimming rule keeps people out of Lake Cachuma, but it also applies to certain freshwater pests.
Since 2017, staff at Lake Cachuma have worked to prevent the spread of a foreign species of mussels that could harm Santa Barbara County’s water supply and damage the fragile ecosystem of the lake.
The fear over the mussels entering the lake goes back to 2013, when it was discovered that the invasive species had been introduced to Lake Piru in Ventura Count…