drought

A three-month long tree removal project off of Fallen Leaf Lake Road near the campground will start around May 15, 2016. Due to the heavy equipment needed, the Forest Service will issue a forest order closing the project area (units 1 and 148) to pedestrians from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m. daily.

Warmer water led to a loss in clarity of Lake Tahoe in 2015, according to data released Tuesday by the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. The average annual clarity (measurements from both summer and winter) is at 73.1 feet, a 4.8 foot decease from the previous year.

This isn't all bad news though, the clarity is still over nine feet greater than the lowest recorded average of 64.1 feet in 1997.

Researchers lower a 10-inch wide disk called a Secchi into the lake, and researchers measure the depth of its visibility.

The wet winter has proven useful for Lake Tahoe. For the first time in 10 months, the lake reached the its natural rim Saturday, April 9, 2016. This last happened in June of 2015 when the lake stayed at or slightly above the rim for a 5 day stretch between June 10th and June 15th. Prior to that, the lake had been below the rim since October 16, 2014.

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

Restoring and conserving our environment at Lake Tahoe means setting our aspirations at the right scale. That’s what TRPA and many partners are working to do through strategic initiatives to ensure the health of our basin’s forests, streams, and lake, and to improve our communities and transportation infrastructure.

“Mother Nature is not living up to predictions by some that a ‘Godzilla’ El Niño would produce much more precipitation than usual this winter,” said California Department of Water Resources (DWR) Director Mark Cowin. “We need conservation as much as ever.”

Just 12 days ago the Sierra Snow Water Equivalent was 130 percent of average. Today, that number has fallen to 100 percent.

Temperatures have above normal all week, with clear and sunny skies contributing to a snowpack loss of four to six inches on average at the Lake Tahoe area snow sensor stations.

Recent heavy rains and snow have added much needed water to the Sierra Nevada snowpack, bringing the snow water equivalent at Phillips Station to 25.4 inches, 130 percent of the February 1 average.

Frank Gehrke, chief of the California Cooperative Snow Surveys Program, led the monthly media-oriented manual snow survey near Sierra-at-Tahoe on Wednesday, leading the group to the measuring location which recorded a snow depth of 76.2 inches.

The most recent storm to hit the Lake Tahoe basin brought with it more rain than snow, but it allowed the lake to rise .20 feet which equals 7.89 billion gallons of water.

The Truckee River in Reno rose 3.71 feet and Donner Lake added 1.72 feet, or 385 million gallons of water.

Ski areas in the basin all got a boost in snow with Mt. Rose seeing the most at 16 inches. Heavenly added 4" and both Sierra-at-Tahoe and Kirkwood saw 10" added to their base.

It is still too early to know whether enough precipitation will have fallen by the end of winter's wet season to significantly impact the drought, but, snowpack and reservoir storage has benefited from recent storms.

Officials from the Department of Water Resources (DWR) will be making their monthly snowpack measurement near Sierra-at-Tahoe on Tuesday, February 2, but electronic readings taken on January 28 show the snowpack is at 116 percent of average. The statewide water content of 18.7 inches is greater now than on any January 26 since 2011.

Recently, I had the chance to visit the much-hyped Tahoe: A visual History at the Nevada Museum of Art. Located in the hip, CalAve District wedged between downtown and midtown Reno, the museum offers locals to the region a taste of world-class art collections. During events like Art Town (a marathon of a hundred-or-so art related events in Reno during the month of July), the museum offers innumerable pieces from local and global artists alike.

A few weak weather systems are headed to Lake Tahoe, but they don't bring with them much of a chance for precipitation.

A weak storm will pass to the north on Monday and Tuesday with 20% chance of it leaving a little snow according to the National Weather Service.

The first snowpack survey of the season was taken Wednesday in Phillips, showing the snowpack us at 136% of average with a water content of 16.3 inches.

"This is encouraging but not where we'd like to be," said Frank Gehkre, the Chief Snow Surveyor for the California Department of Water Resources. "This is clearly much better than last year at this time."

One year ago the survey showed the snowpack at 47% of average.

A pattern change begins today as the Pacific storm track continues to slip southward. Areas north of the Sacramento region should see some light precipitation Thursday with increasing rain and mountain snow on Friday. By Friday night and Saturday, all of northern California will be shifting into a wetter pattern with rain or mountain snow expected during parts of every day through at least Christmas day next Friday.

In the graphic in this story, South Tahoe Now created a comparison of the last four years on December 16 from NASA images of the snowpack.

The long awaited first storm of the winter has hit the Sierra Nevada, much to the excitement of ski resorts, skiers and those wanting an end to the drought.

While this weather front isn't supposed to leave much behind at lake level, the upper elevations may see over a foot of snow.

Here is the updated weather forecast from the National Weather Service:

Today - Rain and snow, becoming all snow after 10am. High near 41. West wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total daytime snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible.

Wave action is damaging pipes for Douglas County’s Lake Tahoe Cave Rock water system that are above the surface, thanks to the drought.

Lake residents get their water from the Lake, once famed for its clarity.

But with the surface continuing to drop, Douglas is looking at means to ensure the water keeps flowing.

County Engineer Nick Charles told Douglas County commissioners at a workshop on Thursday that the Lake level was about 4 inches from activating a Stage 2 drought.

The annual salmon run up South Lake Tahoe's Taylor Creek has seen far fewer numbers of kokanee than in years past, and not only have the crowds noticed, but so have the bears.

Speculation for the cause is the warmer water at the mouth of Taylor Creek.

"The spawn relies heavily on the presence of high water flow, which under normal conditions would be due to precipitation that comes with colder temperatures," said Lisa Heron, Public Affairs Specialist with the U.S. Forest Service.

With the drought of the last four years, its hard to know what "normal" is anymore.

Last year, it was the "Bear Selfie" craze that showed how people can disrespect nature. This year, the issue can be known as "Tree Tagging."

Got your fingers crossed for a wet, white winter ahead?

The chances have just improved even more. Updated federal government forecasts Thursday raised the likelihood to near certainty for an El Nino event noted for bringing stormy winters in the past as witnessed in the historically strong El Nino winters of 1982-83 and 1997-98.

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.

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."

Vast areas of California's Central Valley are sinking faster than in the past as massive amounts of groundwater are pumped during the historic drought, state officials said Wednesday, citing new research by NASA scientists.

The data shows the ground is sinking nearly two inches each month in some places, putting roads, bridges and vital canals that deliver water throughout the state at growing risk of damage.

Experts warn of a Godzilla El Niño this fall.

So, what exactly is a "Godzilla" El Niño?

Actually, it’s just a clever joke by a NASA climatologist: "This definitely has the potential of being the Godzilla El Niño," Bill Patzert of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge, California, said Thursday.

What's It Look Like?

"Godzilla" El Niño is not a technical or scientific term, but it's a good way to describe the upcoming El Niño event, because it could likely be one of the strongest since record-keeping began in 1950.

Scientists have determined that Lake Tahoe’s iconic blueness is most strongly related to algae, not clarity. In a report released today from the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center, researchers found the lower the algal concentration, the bluer the lake.

In the “Tahoe: State of the Lake Report 2015” report, research shows clarity is controlled by sediment. Blueness is controlled by algal concentration, which in turn is driven by the level of nutrients available to the algae.