CAP’s Fleet Maintenance Department maintains more than 800 pieces of equipment that range from weed eaters to a flatbed semi transporter and everything in between. If it has a motor and is mobile, they take care of it. Their contribution is critical to ensuring reliable water deliveries.
Among the more unique assets these craftsmen maintain are two waterweed harvesting boats, which remove aquatic vegetation, so it doesn’t enter the plants, clog the motors and disrupt the flow of water. One of the boats, affectionately named Moody Blues after a former assistant general manager who helped purchase it, had seen better days.
The 15-year-old blue vessel had spent many summers running non-stop, coming out of the water for regular maintenance. However, during the pandemic, there were less weeds and crews were spread thin, so the boat sat in the water and only operated as needed. This resulted in faded paint and a heavy buildup of quagga mussels that could potentially impact operations. The “welcome mat” of weeds showed up in the intake channel near Mark Wilmer Pumping Plant needed attention and running to a local boat shop to find a replacement wasn’t possible.
Moody Blues is an extremely unique piece of equipment and one that Fleet Maintenance Supervisor Joe Kates knew well. He had worked on the boat since it was new, and he was a shop mechanic, and he was eager to bring it back to its glory.
“This boat is particularly useful in keeping harbors clean and maintaining the ecological balance of the area,” said Kates. “I knew the work would be tedious, hot and smelly, but it had to be done.
Kates and his team went to work, spending long days outside with temperatures topping 100 degrees.
They scraped mountains of quagga mussels and painted by hand. They cleaned it thoroughly and performed a careful inspection. They then completed some repairs that brought this boat back to pristine condition.
“I’m proud of my team for bringing this boat back to almost original condition,” said Kates. “It’s ready to tackle the ongoing challenges posed by an ever-changing ecosystem and invasive weeds in the Lake Havasu reservoir.”
Moody Blues will continue to tackle those challenges along with CAP’s second waterweed harvesting boat, the Hydro-Mate AM-2000 whose features and capabilities – shown in this infographic – compliment those its older teammate.
KRA: Project Reliability
Providing reliable and cost-effective operations, maintenance, and replacement of CAP infrastructure and technology assets
