Completion of Bijou Erosion Project celebrated in South Lake Tahoe

If you've driven through the Bijou area of South Lake Tahoe over the last couple of years you know that it's been undergoing a major stormwater treatment transformation with the replacement of pipes and the addition of water treatment chambers.

The City of South Lake Tahoe held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday, celebrating the near completion of the project which is treating stormwater runoff from 42 acres within the Bijou Commercial Core area, preventing 21,000 pounds of fine sediment particles from reaching Lake Tahoe each year.

“The Bijou project represents an area-wide approach to treating stormwater through a regional system. It benefits lake clarity by treating urban runoff before it reaches Lake Tahoe,” South Lake Tahoe Mayor Pro Tem Brooke Laine said at Thursday’s ribbon cutting.

Designing the project for the commercial core posed major challenges because of the area’s mixed property ownership, high groundwater levels, and extensive impervious coverage, with a lack of space for traditional stormwater treatment facilities.

The underground system captures stormwater in the Bijou Commercial Core, collects it in pre-treatment chambers, and then pumps it uphill to a series of infiltration basins that have been developed on U.S. Forest Service property.

Joanne S. Marchetta, Executive Director of TRPA, said the Bijou Erosion Control Project is a poster child for the type of collaborative, area-wide water quality improvement projects that are needed to protect and restore the environment at Lake Tahoe.

“Multiple property owners and agencies came together to develop this unique area-wide solution that allows everyone to make a contribution to saving Lake Tahoe,” Marchetta said.