2021 Shoreline Mooring Lottery opens December 1

LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. - Entries for the annual lottery for Lake Tahoe moorings (buoys, boat lifts, boat slips) can be submitted by lakefront property owners starting December 1.

As part of the Shoreline Plan, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) may permit up to a maximum of 2,116 additional (new) moorings, with 15 percent from each of the three types being allocated annually.

The total new moorings allowed per the plan:

1,486 private moorings (buoys or boat lifts)
330 marina moorings (buoys or boat slips)
300 public agency moorings (buoys or boat slips)

There were approximately 200 issued in 2020, and about 190 will be allowed this year. Some new permits are reserved for public moorings and marina mooring fields.

A mooring lottery will be conducted annually until all allocations are distributed, according to TRPA.

The plan, approved in 2018, places a cap on the total number of moorings and piers allowed in the Tahoe Region and establishes an annual lottery system to allocate new moorings.

Entries for the lottery can be submitted anytime from December 1, 2021, through March 1, 2022, and all submissions received before the deadline will be considered equally, according to the agency.

Applicants must meet certain criteria to enter, however, the drawing is only for an allocation. If an allocation is received, a complete permit application will be required. Only littoral shoreline properties, those that adjoin or abut the highwater line of Lake Tahoe, are eligible to enter the lottery, the agency said.

Additional information on eligibility and how to enter is available at https://laketahoeinfo.org/moorings.