nearshore

The Lake Tahoe Basin saw continued environmental improvement over the last four years, but faces major challenges from climate change, according to a draft 2015 Threshold Evaluation Report released by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA).

The report offers a detailed assessment of the health of Lake Tahoe and its treasured natural environment as indicated by 178 threshold standards in nine categories: Air quality, water quality, soil conservation, vegetation, fisheries, wildlife, scenic resources, noise, and recreation.

Lawmakers from Nevada and California met Monday 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.

Ever since President Bill Clinton held the first meeting in South Lake Tahoe in 1997, the annual focus of the Lake Tahoe Summit is to protect what Mark Twain called "the fairest picture the whole world affords."

Decisions made in Congress over the next few months may well determine the extent to which Lake Tahoe remains blue and clear, with healthy forests, resilient watersheds, and its ecology protected from the threat of new aquatic invasive species.

For two decades, the Lake Tahoe Environmental Improvement Program (EIP) has provided guidance for the shared investments made by our federal, state and local governments, homeowners, and businesses to restore and protect Tahoe’s unique environmental qualities and enhance its diverse public recreation opportunities.

This week, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency voiced its strong support for legislation to reauthorize the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act that has been introduced in Congress by Tahoe’s Senate delegation.

Sponsored by U.S. Senator Dean Heller (R-Nevada) along with Harry Reid (D-Nevada), Dianne Feinstein (D-California), and Barbara Boxer (D-California), the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act would authorize up to $415 million in federal funding over 10 years to help continue critical environmental restoration work at Lake Tahoe.

Clarity levels at Lake Tahoe in 2014 showed the biggest improvements in more than a decade, according to researchers at the University of California, Davis, who have studied the lake for the last half century.

The improvements are in part due to continuous work from the Lake Tahoe community to lower pollutants to the lake. They were also influenced by the drought, as reduced precipitation meant fewer contaminants flowed into Lake Tahoe, particularly during the summer, when clarity levels were the highest recorded since 2002.

A newly released scientific study highlights the importance of collaborative work to prevent the introduction of aquatic invasive species at Lake Tahoe, and confirms what many public and private stakeholders have feared: That the invasive quagga mussel, if introduced, could establish in our mountain lake’s clear, iconic waters.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services awarded $150,000 to the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC) to create a new, interactive public exhibit at the Tahoe Science Center, located in Incline Village. The exhibit will merge the results of citizen science with TERC’s new, real-time monitoring network that is being installed around the lake to understand and improve the clarity and health of Lake Tahoe’s shoreline.

Lake Tahoe is one of California’s greatest natural treasures. It is a beauty to behold, with forested mountains surrounding the deep blue shimmering surface. It is famous for many recreational activities- snowboarding, skiing, hiking, mountain biking, boating, fishing, and sunbathing. But the clear blue waters of Tahoe are in trouble. Invasive species, climate change, and sedimentation all threaten the unique ecosystems of the lake.

Scientists today presented research findings and recommendations to the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Governing Board that address Lake Tahoe’s aquatic nearshore environment and the heightened interest in understanding factors contributing to its apparent deterioration.

From Tahoe’s mountaintops to the lake’s sandy bottom, scientists from the University of Nevada, Reno continue to study and find solutions to the breadth of issues that face the entire Lake Tahoe Basin. Their research is making a tangible contribution to the decisions, policies and practices that guide the basin’s environmental health.

A team of partners from the Lake Tahoe Aquatic Invasive Species Program is scheduled to begin implementation of the largest Asian clam control project in the history of Lake Tahoe on October 15, with plans to treat an area of up to 5 acres at the mouth of Emerald Bay.

The economic and environmental future at Lake Tahoe will be discussed among 350 researchers, scientists, policy makers and economic stakeholders at Incline Village this week during the Tahoe Science Conference Tuesday through Thursday.

Several environmental gains over the last five years have been made at the Lake Tahoe Basin, according to the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency’s “Threshold Evaluation Report” released Wednesday, which highlights water quality as a continued area of concern.

The comprehensive report offers a snapshot of the health of the ecosystem in the Tahoe Basin by documenting the status and trends of more than 100 environmental standards ranging from air and water quality to fish and wildlife. The biggest improvements were documented in air and water quality, and scenic resources.