A New Chapter for CLERC’s Water Quality Lab

This year marks an exciting new chapter for CLERC’s Water Quality Lab.

Alongside a new visual identity, including a refreshed logo inspired by CLERC’s evolving brand, the lab is continuing to grow into one of the region’s most important environmental resources. The updated look reflects more than a rebrand. It represents years of persistence, investment, and community commitment to building local scientific capacity in Lake County.

What began as a recognized need has steadily developed into a trusted environmental laboratory serving local agencies, utilities, businesses, and community partners throughout the region.

Carolyn Ruttan in the CLERC Water Lab

In May 2018, CLERC identified a major gap in Lake County infrastructure: there was no accredited environmental laboratory available locally to support water quality monitoring and regulatory testing needs. For a county so deeply connected to water, from Clear Lake itself to drinking water systems, wastewater operations, watershed health, and wildfire recovery, the absence of nearby laboratory services created both logistical and economic challenges.

In response, CLERC’s board and staff committed themselves to building something that did not yet exist locally: a community-centered environmental laboratory focused on both scientific integrity and public service.

Since then, the lab has steadily expanded its capabilities while supporting regional water quality monitoring, compliance testing, and environmental response efforts. This year, the importance of having local laboratory capacity became especially clear during the Clear Lake sewage spill response, when the CLERC Lab was called upon extensively for water quality testing and rapid turnaround support. Having an accredited lab nearby allowed for faster coordination, quicker reporting, and critical local responsiveness during a time-sensitive environmental event.

Today, the lab continues to grow through the addition of experienced scientific and compliance professionals whose backgrounds bring decades of expertise to Lake County.

Co-founders Will Evans and Carolyn Ruttan

Among them is Carolyn Ruttan, CLERC Co-Founder and retired scientist, whose long career in Lake County environmental management helped lay the foundation for the organization itself. During her tenure with the county, Carolyn managed programs involving invasive species, watershed management, harmful algal blooms, aquatic plant management, and quagga and zebra mussel prevention. Her work included grant management, permitting, monitoring, and extensive environmental sampling and analysis throughout the Clear Lake watershed.

Carolyn’s connection to Clear Lake runs far deeper than science alone. After moving to Lake County in 2000, she quickly recognized both the ecological importance of the lake and the urgent need for sustained environmental research and stewardship. That passion ultimately helped inspire the creation of CLERC itself.

Ryan FarPorte

The lab has also expanded with the addition of Ryan FarPorte, who joined CLERC in October 2025. Ryan brings more than twenty years of experience in water sampling, environmental testing, and remediation work throughout California, including positions with the County of Santa Cruz, Mendocino County, and private laboratories. His background spans drinking water, wastewater, stormwater, petroleum contamination, GIS mapping, and environmental cleanup projects.

Ryan’s curiosity-driven approach to science extends well beyond the laboratory. A soil scientist by training with a degree from California Polytechnic State University, he is also deeply involved in permaculture education, citizen science, mycology, drone mapping, and emerging environmental technologies. His broad technical experience strengthens the lab’s growing capacity to support both regulatory testing and future research initiatives.

Karen Washington

Most recently, Karen Washington joined the CLERC Lab in April 2026, bringing nearly three decades of experience in compliance, quality systems management, and regulated industries including agriculture, pharmaceuticals, food safety, nutraceuticals, and cannabis operations. Karen’s expertise in regulatory compliance, laboratory systems, SOP development, and data management adds another critical layer of operational strength as the lab continues to mature.

Her extensive background in quality assurance and process management supports CLERC’s goal of maintaining rigorous scientific standards while continuing to expand services for the community.

Together, Carolyn, Ryan, Karen, and the broader CLERC team are helping shape a laboratory that is uniquely rooted in local environmental needs while meeting professional scientific and regulatory standards.

Currently, the CLERC Lab provides accredited microbiology testing services for drinking water and wastewater, supporting routine compliance monitoring and operational reporting throughout the region. Services include total coliform and E. coli testing for both drinking water and wastewater, biochemical oxygen demand testing, electronic reporting support, and rapid turnaround options for urgent situations.

But beyond the technical services themselves, the larger mission remains clear: building local resilience through science.

In a region where water quality, wildfire recovery, watershed health, and environmental stewardship are deeply interconnected, having local scientific infrastructure matters. It means faster response times, stronger partnerships, local expertise, economic investment, and a community that does not have to outsource its environmental future elsewhere.

The new logo may feature a beaker, but the real symbol behind the lab is something larger: a growing commitment to science in service of community