Hubbard County 2016 AIS Program Report

The purpose of this report is to summarize the 2016 Watercraft Inspection Program (WIP) in Hubbard County, Minnesota. The WIP has been in transition throughout this past year moving from the direction and management of the Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) to the County under the Environmental Services Department (ESD). There was also the creation of a full-time AIS Program Coordinator position under the supervision of the Environmental Services Officer. The main structure of the program has remained the same with all of the watercraft inspectors being employed through Always There Staffing, Inc. This structure has been very successful in creating and maintaining an efficient and effective program. The 2016 WIP was successful in its first season under the Hubbard County ESD. Some of the most notable points are as follows: · The total amount of watercraft inspections increased slightly from 21,059 in 2015 to 22,757 · The number of hours worked increased from 14,943 in 2015 to 15,384 · The County-wide inspection per hour average was 1.48 · The percentage of boats that arrived at an access with drain plugs in decreased from 2.74% in 2015 to 1.15% · The number of boats that arrived at a public access with plants, water, or mud attached decreased from 2.85% in 2015 to 2.10% · The percentage of boaters that were last on infested waters increased from 9.01% in 2015 to 10.98% · The percentage of boaters that were entering from out-of-state was 14.85%· The number of decontaminations performed slightly decreased from 130 in 2015 to 116 · The percentage of decontaminations performed on boats that were last in infested waters increased from 37.69% in 2015 to 53.45% These numbers represent the most important and relevant statistics from the 2016 watercraft inspection season. For further 2016 data, refer to the table in Appendix A. The data represented in the above bullet points can be used to assess the strong points of the Hubbard County WIP. The total number of inspections increased between 2015 and 2016 while the number of boats entering with drain plugs in or with plants, animals, water or mud present decreased. This may represent an increase in boater education about current AIS laws and regulations. The number of boats entering that were last on infested waterbodies increased between 2015 and 2016. This should be expected as each year the number of infested lakes in Minnesota has been slightly increasing. The number of decontaminations that were performed in 2016 decreased slightly; however, the percentage of decontaminations that were performed on boats coming from infested waters increased by 15.76%. The percentage of boaters entering from out-of-state did not significantly change between 2015 and 2016.