water conservation

In South Lake Tahoe, Truckee, and Mammoth Lakes, our public lands are woven into the fabric of life. These lands are symbols of our strength and keepers of serenity in these turbulent times. As we've seen locally, our parks and public lands are a beloved resource and one that is essential for our collective recovery. If we want our parks and public lands to be there for us for the long haul we need to invest in them now.

Californians, including the people of Lake Tahoe, love our public lands. We love the cold deep blue waters of Lake Tahoe, the rugged mountains, and the varied forests that are part of the nearly 100 million acres of land all Californians can claim ownership of. We love these public lands not just because of their natural beauty, but because they are central to our way of life. Many of us live here, or moved here, because of what they provide - culture, lifestyle, and livelihood.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - A full day of earth-friendly events and activities returns to South Lake Tahoe on Saturday, April 27 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Bijou Community Park, located at 1201 Al Tahoe Boulevard.

Earth Day recognizes, celebrates and promotes our region’s unique beauty while educating people about its environmental issues. South Lake Tahoe’s free event includes children’s activities, local vendors, environmental booths, nature walks with Tahoe Institute for Natural Science, and live “river rock and mountain blues” by Boot Juice.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - In 2014, the South Tahoe Public Utility District’s Board of Directors approved a series of annual rate increases to fund more than $50 million in critical improvements to South Tahoe’s water, wastewater, and recycled water systems. These upgrades lower long-term costs, improve fire flow, protect the environment and ensure longterm, quality service. On Thursday, December 20, 2018 at 6 p.m. the District will host a public meeting on the upgrades to the water, sewer and recycled water systems, and the ongoing improvements still needed.

The South Lake Tahoe Earth Day celebration will be on Saturday, April 28, 2018 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Bijou Community Park. The special day recognizes, celebrates, and promotes our region’s unique beauty while educating the public about local environmental issues.

Location

Snow was hard to find Wednesday during the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) first measurement of the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada this winter.

Snowpack is off to a slow start, with just 3 percent of average found at Phillips Station, The measurement January 3 revealed a snow water equivalent (SWE) of 0.4 inches. The average is 11.3 inches in early January at Phillips, as measured there since 1964. It's elevation is 6,873 feet and located at the intersection of Highway 50 and Sierra-at-Tahoe Road.

On May 17, 2017, South Tahoe Now was at the demolition of the McDonald's at the "Y," and the builder said he'd have the project done and ready to open in 120 days.

Wednesday, September 13, the new 4,305 square foot building with its environmental improvements opened to the public at 11:30 a.m. That was 117 days since we saw old, 40-year-old building come down.

Inside, diners will see a sleek new design with automated ordering stations and plenty of seating.

There is a full slate of events in South Lake Tahoe and the surrounding area this weekend. On Al Tahoe Boulevard, one can hit the Lake Tahoe Home and Garden Show, Earth Day, and Ladies' Morning Out on Saturday.

Water conservation efforts in California have saved 2.51 million acre-feet of water since June of 2105. This is enough water to provide 6.24 million homes with water for a year, or almost one-third of the state's population.

Since state-mandated water restrictions have been in place, the cumulative statewide savings has been 22.5 percent, when compared with the previous 18-month period.

Since June 2015, the 817.9 billion gallons saved is enough water to supply more than 12.5 million people with water for a year has been saved at the state level.

Due to a venue conflict, the 2016 FireFest will be held at Hard Rock Casino Lake Tahoe on Saturday, September 24 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The free event is open to the public.

3:30 p.m. update from Douglas County Officials: The water line has been located, but it is 15 feet deep with a gas line in the excavation hole and unmarked fiber optic lines running parallel to the edge of pavement along the old road bed. Therefore, efforts are currently limited to the use of a vactor truck for excavation.

The road crew is working with utilities on the excavation. It is anticipated that the crews will be working into the night to make the leak repair. Crockett Construction is onsite and they will be performing the excavation once fiber optics are located.

The Evans Family Garden received a makeover on July 1 when members of the California Conservation Corps/Tahoe Center joined representatives of the South Tahoe Public District, Tahoe Resources Conservation District, and members of the Evans family at the site on Mt. Olympia Circle.

The groups weeded, did path rehabilitation, sheet mulching and re-planting.

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.

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.

When Governor Jerry Brown told the residents of the state to cut back their water usage, he had the California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) tell each region how much to cut back. That benchmark in South Lake Tahoe was 20%.

For the past three months, residents have cut much more than that. In May, water use at South Tahoe Public Utility District (STPUD) was down 34%, followed by 24% in June and 27% in July. This is on top of the 27% reduction in water use that the district's customer have accomplished since 2007.

The public is invited to the 16th annual Children's Environmental Science Day presented by the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center on Sunday, August 2 at Commons Beach in Tahoe City. The event will begin at 12:30 p.m. and will continue until 3:30 p.m., with a free Mumbo Gumbo concert at 4:00 p.m.

Rebecca Bryson and Joy Barney of the South Shore were honored for their work in local schools that resulted in progress and environmental improvements in the Lake Tahoe region.

During Wednesday's Tahoe Regional Planning Agency's Governing Board meeting, the two South Shore women were given the Lake Spirit award along with a family and person from the North Shore. The award has been given to "real people making real progress" at restoring Lake Tahoe since 2011.

During times of drought, homeowners turn to water conservation not only in their daily habits but in their gardens as well.

There is even a word for this: xeriscape. The definition of xeriscape is landscaping and gardening that reduces or eliminates the need for supplemental water from irrigation.

The Tahoe Resource Conservation District is hold a free workshop on xeriscping on Wednesday, June 17 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the South Tahoe Public Utility District.

In typical South Lake Tahoe fashion, Mother Nature has decided to visit the local Earth Day celebration on Saturday. While sunshine may be preferred by some, needed moisture will be making a visit.

Don't let a forecast of rain or snow keep you from Earth Day 2015 though. As seen in the video in this story, snow fell just prior to last year's event too.

California water agencies are on track to satisfy a state mandate to reduce water consumption 20 percent by 2020. But according to their own projections, that savings won’t be enough to keep up with population growth just a decade later.

A 2009 state law requires urban water agencies to reduce per-capita water consumption 20 percent by 2020, compared with use at the start of the century. Most agencies are on track to reach that goal, and have made even more progress thanks to emergency cuts over the past year triggered by the ongoing drought.

If you own a home or business in the City of South Lake Tahoe you will soon be able to install renewable energy, energy efficiency, and water conservation improvements and pay for it with a voluntary lien against your property.

Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) is a volunteer program which will give property owners a chance to improve their properties. Figtree Financing and the California Enterprise Development Authority (CEDA) will facilitate the program in the city.

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:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) introduced Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak and noted that this was the first time, ever, a Russian Ambassador has visited Lake Tahoe. Senator Reid described Russia's Lake Baikal as the most voluminous freshwater lake in the world, containing roughly 20% of the world's unfrozen surface fresh water, conservation efforts, and compared both Lake Baikal and Lake Tahoe as "two of the fairest places in all of the earth".

The League to Save Lake Tahoe received a grant Monday from Wells Fargo and Company as part of a $3 million Wells Fargo Environmental Solutions for Communities grant program across 64 community-based nonprofits nationwide to help support land and water conservation, energy efficiency, infrastructure and educational outreach.