Forest Service to hold informational meeting on Upper Truckee project

The Forest Service will hold a meeting Thursday, May 30, to answer questions and provide information about its Upper Truckee River restoration project.

The project area is located east of the Lake Tahoe Airport runway and west of the Washoan subdivision in the Tahoe Paradise residential area. The meeting will provide an overview of the activities that will occur this summer, and how these will limit public access during construction due to safety concerns associated with heavy equipment operation.

The Forest Service, in collaboration with the California Tahoe Conservancy, has completed environmental analysis and permitting for the project, which is part of a larger effort to restore the lower nine miles of the Upper Truckee River. The Forest Service expects to break ground on its portion of the project in early June.

The Upper Truckee River Reach 5 Restoration Project will replace the existing stream channel with a new one that has the width, depth and curves of a more naturally functioning river. The goal is to create a channel that is more stable and connected to the adjacent floodplain, provides better aquatic habitat and supports a healthier meadow ecosystem. The completed restoration will reduce the amount of fine sediment that travels into Lake Tahoe.

The meeting will take place from 6-8 p.m. at the Forest Supervisor’s Office, 35 College Drive, South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150. For requests for reasonable accommodation for people with disabilities, please contact Adrian Escobedo, Forest Civil Rights Officer, at (530) 543-2758 or aescobedo02@fs.fed.us.

For more information on the meeting, please contact project leader Theresa Cody, (530) 545-2057 or tlcody@fs.fed.us. The environmental documents and other project information are available online here.