water use

Every day we wash our dishes, fill our water glass, and flush the toilet, likely without thinking much about the systems required to make this all possible. I’d like to think we are doing our job so you don’t have to think too much about it.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The Lake Tahoe Unified School District Board of Trustees unanimously adopted a “Healthy and Environmentally Sound Schools” resolution at its October 10 meeting. This supports expanded energy efficiency programs, and alignment with the City of South Lake Tahoe’s recent commitment to get 100 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources.

Ski Run Blvd and Pioneer Trail will be transformed into a large water party pn August 27 when a 1000-ft water slide lets participants slipe and slide their way down the streets in South Lake Tahoe.

The Tahoe Regional Young Professional group is bringing "Slide the City" to town not only as a fundraiser, but as a fun and local event that will also feature live music, vendors and food through three-city blocks. In order for TRYP to get the funds, those ordering tickets must use the promo code "TRYPSLIDE."

Over half of the state of California are in severe to exceptional drought conditions, but things are as bad as they were just a year ago when most of the Western United States were experiencing those same drought conditions.

A "Miracle March" never materialized in the Sierra Nevada in 2016 and current snowpack shows that it would have been necessary to get totals above average, something needed to combat the drought in California.

In the last official snow survey of the year at Phillips Station near Sierra-at-Tahoe, the snow was 58.4 inches deep with a water content of 26 inches, just 97 percent of the long-term average in that location.

“While for many parts of the state there will be both significant gains in both reservoir storage and stream flow, the effects of previous dry years will

Multimedia artist Cynthia Hooper, whose videos and paintings capture various landscapes found in California and Mexico, is bringing her artistic talents to Lake Tahoe Community College’s Haldan Gallery this winter. Research & Desire: Recent Videos and Paintings by Cynthia Hooper opens Thursday, Jan. 14, with an Artist’s Reception from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Haldan Gallery. Hooper will give a short talk about her work at 5:30 p.m. Light refreshments will be served, and all are welcome to attend this free event. The exhibit remains open until March 18.

Thousands flock to the Sierra Nevada every fall to watch the color changes of the aspen trees along with the annual upstream migration of the Kokanee Salmon in Taylor Creek to lay their eggs and complete their life cycle.

The bright yellows, oranges and reds of the aspen are emblematic of fall in Lake Tahoe, but this year that will not happen in the typical fashion that people have become accustomed to.

In a stroll through many of the aspen groves on the South Shore it looks like fall has already happened with dried leaves leaving the branches and making their way to the forest floor.

As one can imagine, Donielle Morse has been very busy lately. As the Water Conservationist specialist for the South Tahoe Public Utility District (STPUD), Morse spends her days informing, teaching and keeping up on the new state water mandates.

Drought or no drought, water conservation is necessary and its the reason South Lake Tahoe is faring better than most communities in the West. Since 2007, local water users have cut back 27% of their annual water usage.

Due to the prospect of finding only bare ground, the Department of Water
Resources (DWR) did not conduct a May 1 snow survey at Phillips Station at the top of Echo Summit near Sierra-at-Tahoe.

“We can’t count on the Sierra snowpack to replenish our water supplies,” said California Department of Water Resources Director Mark Cowin. “Major reservoirs are dropping at a time when they typically would be filling with melted snow. We need careful, sparing use of water across the state, because we don’t know when this drought will end.”

Following the lowest snowpack ever recorded and with no end to the drought in sight, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced actions that will save water, increase enforcement to prevent wasteful water use, streamline the state's drought response and invest in new technologies that will make California more drought resilient.

Dear voters,

I’m hoping you will send a message by voting for me to work for you on the South Tahoe Public Utility District Board. I’ve been a local 40 years, through droughts, storms, power outages and great sunny powder ski days.

At 21, I opened Happy Steak Restaurant and owned it for 16 years. I was CEO of the California based South Lake Tahoe Chamber for 12 years and I taught Business and Personnel at LTCC. I have a BA in business administration and I’m a graduate of the Institute for Organization Management. I’m a past STPUD Board member.

California Governor Jerry Brown has called for a 20% reduction in water usage state wide in order to prepare for the anticipated water shortage not only for 2014, but also in coming years.

A presentation was made by South Tahoe Public Utility District at Tuesday's City Council Meeting on just how everyone can cut back, from private homes to city projects.

Long range planning is important for communities to survive cutbacks to water supplies. The District outlined their response to conservation: