Lake Tahoe Sees Less Public Money for Environment

The annual Tahoe summit takes place next week in Stateline, Nev. This year's theme is public-private partnership -which may well be a sign of how protecting the Tahoe basin will work in future. Since the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act passed in 2000, the majority of the $1.5 billion of funding for environmental projects has come from state and federal governments.

But that money ran out last year. The odds of the Act being re-funded in the near future are slim, says Tahoe Science Consortium director Maureen McCarthy. And both Nevada and California are strapped for cash.

"There is a desire to transfer some of the responsibility from the public sector, ie. the federal government and the state governments who have the funded lions share of the work done here in last ten to 20 years to private sector partnerships," McCarthy said.

She points to a recent example of public-private collaboration where Nevada has allowed permitting to catch the invasive crayfish in Lake Tahoe and sell them to restaurants.
This year's summit is hosted by Senator Dean Heller of Nevada. California senator Dianne Feinstein will also speak.

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