drought

LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. - The new Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit Deputy Forest Supervisor Danelle D. Harrison is our guest columnist and looks back, and ahead, to the health of Lake Tahoe

Looking Back

December is a special time of year when our thoughts turn to family and friends, and communities come together to celebrate the season. It also marks the end of the year. And what a year it was. Together, we experienced unprecedented events including a record-breaking wildland fire year in the Pacific Southwest Region.

As ashes fell delicately from a blazing orange sky earlier this week, Lake Tahoe got a jarring glimpse of just one of the threats of the climate crisis. The frequency and intensity of wildfires in the West are breaking records and destroying communities. Scientists are also measuring wilder weather patterns, more severe droughts, and changing ecosystems as the planet’s temperature rises. More drought means more dead trees, and hotter summers mean a longer and more
severe fire season.

LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. - In a unified move, all fire agencies around the Lake Tahoe Basin have banned all open burning utilizing wood and charcoal for the remainder of the summer, or longer if needed. This includes campgrounds with fire rings, fire pits at homes and all charcoal barbeques whether at home or at public and private facilities.

The suspension takes effect at 12:00 p.m. on Friday, August 21, 2020 and will be enforced with extinguishment and possible citations and fines.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - This week's Drought Monitor shows much of the West in some level of drought. Lake Tahoe, the Sierra, and Western Nevada are all in a "moderate drought" stage with no end in the immediate future.

The 90-day outlook shows higher than average temperatures and lower than average precipitation, neither of which is good to break out of a drought.

Following below-average precipitation most of the winter, May storms delivered 181 percent of average in the Northern Sierra for this time of year, but the results aren't showing enough to remove the area from drought.

LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The proposed Lake Tahoe West Restoration Project is in the final planning stages and the three agencies involved, USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, California Tahoe Conservancy, and Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, are inviting the public to provide their input. The project is a big one, covering 59,000 acres, and will provide a science-based, all-lands approach to guide restoration approaches on the West Shore over the next two decades to increase the resilience of ecosystems and human communities.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - It isn't news to those who live in or frequent the Lake Tahoe region, the area has been experiencing very dry conditions this winter. Even though dry, it is not bad enough yet to put Tahoe into a drought category. The Drought Monitor released this week by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) places 45 percent of the country in the D0-D4 categories, or abnormally dry to exceptional drought. This is a big change from 2018-19. At that time Lake Tahoe had well above average snow, but 62.6 percent of the U.S. fell into the Do-D4 categories.

As the Fire Chief serving the north and west shores of Lake Tahoe, I am acutely aware and concerned about the potential for catastrophic wildfire here.

LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. - What a difference a year can make! In 2018, the annual test of Lake Tahoe's clarity value made a drastic change and improved to 70.9 feet. This is 10.5 more feet than was seen in 2017.

In the release of their annual report, the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC) in Incline Village said a return to more normal weather and streamflow conditions was responsible for this change.

For the past 18 years, volunteers have been monitoring water quality conditions across the Lake Tahoe and Truckee River watersheds, collecting data at a single point in time to better understand the area as a whole. It is a bi-state collaborative that can achieve a larger watershed approach to successful data collection.

On May 17 and 18, 2019, volunteers will once again head out and perform a variety of tests including temperature, pH, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, algae, and nitrogen.

At a price tag of $150 million, the California legislature is considering a bill that, if approved, would change the way the Sierra snowpack is measured each year.

For 90 years the snowpack has been measured at several locations including Phillips, just west of Lake Tahoe. Normally performed in front of media, staff from the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) snowshoe into a spot where they stick a pole into the snow to measure the depth and water content of the snow.

With the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center report released Thursday, it looks like Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada will be warmer than average and experience an average precipitation year.

A mild winter could be in store for much of the United States this winter according to the report. In the U.S. Winter Outlook for December through February, above-average temperatures are most likely across the northern and western U.S., Alaska and Hawaii.

Additionally, a weak El Nino has a 70 to 75 percent chance of developing.

On April 18, 2017 the South Lake Tahoe City Council unanimously passed a resolution to do two things: Power the South Lake Tahoe community with electricity provided from 100 percent renewable sources by 2032; and reduce community carbon emissions from baseline by at least 80 percent by 2040. The 100% Renewable Committee was formed to help the City accomplish these tasks.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – The National Forest Foundation (NFF) has received a major grant from the California Climate Investments Forest Health Grant Program to conduct important forest health work on the Tahoe National Forest, the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) and State Responsibility Area (SRA) lands in the Truckee / Tahoe region.

Location

U.S. Senator Dean Heller (R-NV) will host the 22nd Annual Lake Tahoe Summit at Sand Harbor State Park in Incline Village, Nevada on Tuesday, August 7th, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. Beach and park operations will be closed until 1:00 p.m. that day.

Lawmakers from Nevada and California will meet on the shores of Lake Tahoe to discuss how to protect a national treasure as it faces continued threats to water clarity, invasive species, wildfire and drought.

Nearly 25 years ago, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and dozens of partners embarked on an unprecedented mission to conserve and restore the Lake Tahoe Basin’s treasured natural resources through the Lake Tahoe Environmental Improvement Program (EIP).

The epic clarity of Lake Tahoe was measured at an average of 59.7 feet in 2017, a 9.5 foot drop from the previous year and 10.3 feet lower than the five-year average according to the annual report compiled by the Tahoe Environmental Research Center at the University of California, Davis.

This measurement surpasses the previous lowest level of 64.1 feet which was recorded in 1997, but far below the record high of over 100 feet in the mid-1960s.

Both California and Nevada suffered destructive wildfires last year. Nevada saw 768 fires burn more than 1.3 million acres. California experienced the deadliest, largest, and most destructive wildfires in its history. Just a few hours-drive from Tahoe, more than 40 people died and thousands of homes were destroyed in the wine country and North Bay last October. In Southern California, the Thomas Fire ravaged communities and forest lands last December with damaging flooding and landslides piled on after the fire subsided.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) will soon begin the process of opening recreational facilities in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Weather and snow conditions permitting, Inspiration Point will be the first site to open on Saturday, April 14, 2018. Baldwin and Nevada beaches open April 28. The Taylor Creek Visitor Center opens Friday, May 25. The Tallac Historic Site parking area opens Tuesday, May 15, and will be staffed beginning Saturday, May 26.

The following is a list of opening/service dates, weather and snow conditions permitting:

The water content in the Sierra snowpack was measured in Phillips April 2, 2018 and it is at 49 percent of the April 1 average.

The California Department of Water Resources snow survey team did their final physical measurement of the year at their normal location in Phillips at the intersection of Highway 50 and Sierra-at-Tahoe Road, west of Lake Tahoe.

Depth of the snow was measured at 32.1 inches and it contained 12.4 inches of water which is 49 percent of long term average for April 1 at the location.

The snowpack measured in at 52 percent of average.

Residents are invited to become involved as Placer County develops a Sustainability Plan which will outline ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and manage climate risks that threaten property value, natural resources and Placer quality of life

There will be two community workshops in March where the public can learn about the plan’s purpose and goals and how to become involved in the planning process.

Months of exceptionally warm weather and an early winter snow drought across big swaths of the West have left the snowpack at record-low levels in parts of the Central and Southern Rockies, raising concerns about water shortages and economic damage.

Drought spread across large parts of the Western United States this month, and storms that moved across the region in early January made up only a small part of the deficit. Runoff from melting snow is now projected to be less than 50 percent of average in key river basins in the central and southern Rockies.

Arctic sea ice loss of the magnitude expected in the next few decades could impact California’s rainfall and exacerbate future droughts, according to new research released December 5, 2017 led by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists.

The study said the melting ice could leave California vulnerable to a recurrence of the severe drought suffered in recent years, as a result of high pressure systems that push away rain-bearing storms, according to the LLNL press release.

Almost 4,000 acres of forest on the North Shore are being treated to reduce the risk of wildfire in Lake Tahoe. Named the Incline Hazardous Fuels Reduction and Healthy Forest Restoration Project, U.S. Forest Service crews resumed work on the project last week now that summer is over. Mechanical cut-to-length (CTL) tree removal is taking place in an area off of State Highway 431, the Mt. Rose Highway, until winter weather sets in.

They thin out the trees to remove excess vegetation that can feed wildfires and improve forest health and provide defensible space to neighboring communities.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) Governing Board on Wednesday approved an emergency permit for Caltrans to remove hazardous dying trees along its highways and rights of way in the Tahoe Basin.

California Gov. Jerry Brown declared a tree mortality emergency in October 2015 because of widespread tree die-offs after several years of severe drought. There are now an estimated 102 million dead trees in California, with the greatest tree mortality in the Southern Sierra Nevada.