pollutants

INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. - When the three parking lots with 90 spaces were created last year in Incline Village for the popular East Shore Trail, they were free but all were told paid parking was coming in the near future.

That time has now come.

Tahoe Transportation District (TTD) has unveiled the Park Tahoe pilot program at the trailhead north of Ponderosa Rand Road. The lots were created to expand off-highway parking options along the high traffic area of SR28 between Incline Village and Sand Harbor State Park.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The largest wetland restoration project in the history of the Lake Tahoe Basin is now underway in the Upper Truckee River Marsh. The major project to restore the marsh in South Lake Tahoe has been years in the making to fix the environmental damage done by the creation of the Tahoe Keys.

LAKE TAHOE, Nev. - The Tahoe East Shore Trail at Lake Tahoe is now open to non-motorized bicycle and foot traffic. The Nevada Department of Transportation and Tahoe Transportation District, along with their partners in the project, celebrated during a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday afternoon the three-mile path between southern Incline Village and Sand Harbor State Park.

Overnight road closures will take place on State Route 28 south of Incline Village June 17 and 18 as the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) places final roadway striping as part of the installation of the State Route 28 shared used path.

Both directions of SR 28 will be closed between Lakeshore Boulevard in southern Incline Village and the U.S. 50 junction from 8:00 p.m.-6:30 a.m. nightly June 17 and 18 as final roadway striping is placed on the highway.

The League to Save Lake Tahoe held its second bi-annual Basin Blitz this spring to assess progress in improving Lake Tahoe’s stormwater infrastructure (pipes, drains and sediment-catching basins). These features flow directly into Lake Tahoe and carry fine sediment pollution from our roads and neighborhoods into the lake, further degrading its clarity.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Winter has arrived in the Lake Tahoe Basin along with the holiday season. Local fire districts and their partners would like to take this opportunity to remind residents and visitors to properly dispose of fireplace/woodstove ashes and to use caution when decorating for the holiday. The following safety tips are recommended by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) to help keep your home safe this winter/holiday season.

Fireplaces and Woodstoves

When looking back at the month of July, each day's high temperatures in South Lake Tahoe were above average except for one, which was equal to the high. Even though July was a warm month, no record highs were set.

After such a warm month, August is starting out much the same.

Every day we are surrounded by toxins. Chemicals that mess with our bodies and make us sick.

You might think that pollutants are outside, but the ones we come into contact with the most, are in our homes. Everything from dishsoap to shampoo, make-up to toothpaste is chock full of nasty chemicals. Think about that kitchen cleaner - is that something you want to sniff, or eat?? And yet we use it to clean our counters and chopping boards. We are ingesting toxic chemicals every single day.

Many have wondered about the structure being built near the Upper Truckee Bridge at US50 and River Drive in South Lake Tahoe. It's tall framing from two weeks ago has become a system of steel, cement, sand and is an in-line facility for stormwater collection and treatment.

This system, called a Delaware sand filter, stands alone and requires no pond or pretreatment. There was a like filter system installed at US50 and Rufus Allen Boulevard a couple of years ago. It has been found to be effective in removing common pollutants from stormwater drain off.

Abundant mid and high clouds and periods of gusty winds in the high Sierra are expected through the weekend, leaving Lake Tahoe with party sunny conditions for Christmas. Abundant mid and high clouds and periods of gusty winds in the high Sierra are expected through the weekend.

A very weak system is passing through Northeastern California and Northern Nevada next week, and with it comes a very slight chance of snow coming into the Lake Tahoe Basin, but more precipiation will be staying near the Oregon border.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Caltrans work in South Lake Tahoe is normally suspended at 11:00 a.m. on Fridays due to weekend traffic, but weather this week has caused roadwork to go through the day September 22.

Highway 50 will be reduced to one lane in each direction from Dunlap Drive to Winnemucca Avenue on Friday to allow for paving and striping from about 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The work again will be dependent on weather and temperature conditions.

Work on the $56 million Highway 50 project in South Lake Tahoe is suspended for the Labor Day weekend, but once the holiday traffic leaves drivers can expect longer delays when lane restrictions are increased.

Starting Tuesday, Sept. 5 at 12:01 a.m., contractor Security Paving Inc. may reduce the highway to one open lane iSn each direction around the clock until 11 a.m. on Fridays.

Beginning Sept. 10, work will be around the clock from midnight Sunday to 11 a.m. Friday each week, with weekends free of construction. Motorists can expect delays of up to 30 minutes.

Lake Tahoe’s extraordinary deep water clarity is attributed to its uncommonly clean water which allows sunlight to reach much greater depths than possible in most other water bodies. Fine sediments through stormwater runoff into the lake reduces this clarity.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE – With heavy traffic expected around Lake Tahoe this long holiday weekend, both California and Nevada highway departments are suspending their roadwork projects.

Caltrans’ construction projects in the City of South Lake Tahoe and along the West Shore of the lake wrapped up work this morning and won’t resume until after the Fourth of July holiday.

What was once home to 155 mobile homes and the KGID water treatment plant took one big step towards being a luxury condominium project on Wednesday when developers tore down the plant.

The mobile homes are all gone, with the remaining few given 90 day notices in January to vacate the property.

After decades of planning, analysis, and public input, the California Tahoe Conservancy Board recently approved the final plan to restore the largest remaining wetland in the Lake Tahoe Basin. The Upper Truckee River and Marsh Restoration Project will restore over 500 acres of highly disturbed wetland habitat, improving the natural filtration capacity of the Marsh and reducing a major source of fine sediment that clouds Tahoe’s famed lake clarity.

Pipe Keepers is a citizen science program to address the threat of stormwater pollution entering Lake Tahoe. Runoff from rain storms and snowmelt is the largest source of pollution that degrades Lake clarity. League staff will train you to survey local neighborhoods and collect stormwater samples during rain and snowmelt events.

There will soon be a new Fanny Bridge in Tahoe City now that the Tahoe Transportation District has secured all of the $33 million needed to complete the State Route 89/Fanny Bridge Community Revitalization Project and Meeks Bay Trail Project.

The Tahoe Transportation District recently appointed Russ Nygaard as transportation capital program manager to oversee the planning, design and execution of the agency's capital projects.

With 26 years engineering experience in transportation and bridge projects, Nygaard will perform project management duties and assist with funding procurement and budget maintenance while ensuring all federal requirements are met and executed on schedule.

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.

The City of South Lake Tahoe looked into charging fees for mandated stormwater inspections of commercial businesses during Tuesday's Council meeting.

Since the City operates under a stormwater permit issued by the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board they must abide by their requirements which "include conducting commercial, industrial and municipal inspections in order to ensure commercial facilities are not discharging waste or pollutants into the City storm drain system."

Area fire departments respond to fires every year that are caused by people leaving their fireplace or wood stove ashes in a paper bag on their home's deck. These accidents can easily be prevented with correct handling of ashes.

"Can Your Ashes" is a campaign that informs the public of these inherent dangers.

Embers, often concealed in what appears to be cold ashes, can remain hot enough to kindle a fire for several days.

To safely dispose of ashes, fire officials offer these tips:

• Never store ashes in bags or boxes.

As the keynote speaker at last month’s National Workshop on Large Landscape Conservation in Washington, D.C., U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Sally Jewell emphasized the central role collaboration must play for America to protect its natural resources, balance economic needs, and address emerging environmental challenges such as climate change.

“We are moving into an era of epic collaboration,” Jewell said, explaining that regional partnerships across jurisdictional boundaries are more important than ever for the federal department that manages 20 percent of our nation’s land.

There are an estimated 500 unpermitted, illegal marijuana grow houses on the South Shore according to local law enforcement. In the city limits, South Lake Tahoe Police Chief Brian Uhler estimates there are 300 houses where marijuana is growing illegally with another 200 in the El Dorado County portion of the South Shore according to SLEDNET’s Matt Underhill. (SLEDNET stands for South Lake El Dorado Narcotics Enforcement Team, a joint drug enforcement task force)