water quality

Jack Durst of Fabulous Lake Tahoe brought out his camera and interviewing skills to the third annual Tahoe Expo geotourism event this weekend at Lakeview Commons in South Lake Tahoe. The event is designed for Lake Tahoe to show its environmentally-friendly side by promoting healthy, fun activities such as biking, hiking, paddleboarding, kayaking and more.

The event featured Stand Up Paddle Yoga, an electric bike tour, information on preserving Tahoe's water quality, and a demonstration of Native American music and culture from the Washoe tribe.

8/30/13 6:50 am update: South Lake Tahoe enjoyed a blue sky day on Thursday but smoke from fhe Rim Fire filled the basin by afternoon. A low pressure system moving in from the northwest may cause more smoke to make its way into the area today as winds are coming from the southwest. The Rim fire has now burned 201,894 acres and is now 32% contained. Firefighters will be constructing contingency lines in advance of the communities of Tuolumne City, Twain Harte, and Long Barn.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency is marking this year’s Lake Tahoe Summit by highlighting the Environmental Improvement Program’s 15 years of achievement restoring and protecting Lake Tahoe’s fragile ecosystem.

Launched at the 1997 Presidential Forum at Lake Tahoe by then President Bill Clinton, and Vice President Al Gore, the Environmental Improvement Program (EIP) is a partnership of more than 50 federal, state, and local agencies, private interests, and the Washoe Tribe.

While clarity improved at Lake Tahoe for a second straight year in 2012, long-term trends show that climate change is impacting the Lake Tahoe Basin with drier years, less precipitation, higher lake temperatures and projected lower lake levels.

These conclusions are found within the lake's annual health exam,"Tahoe: State of the Lake Report 2013," released today by the Tahoe Environmental Research Center at the University of California, Davis.

Nevada Senator Harry Reid today co-sponsored, along with Senator Dean Heller (R-NV), and Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act that was introduced today by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). The Lake Tahoe Restoration Act continues the federal commitment to Lake Tahoe by authorizing $415 million over 10 years to improve Lake Tahoe’s water clarity, reduce risks from catastrophic wildfires, combat invasive species and restore and protect the environment in the Lake Tahoe Basin.

The Lake Tahoe Outreach Collaborative is launching a survey to find out what the public thinks are the most important things people can do to help protect Lake Tahoe. The survey results will be used to inform the creation of a new Environmental Stewardship Messaging campaign for the Tahoe region. The survey takes five minutes to complete and can be found online here.

A one-mile section of new multi-use path at Stateline, Nev., near the South Shore casinos, was unveiled to the public Thursday, June 20, 2013, marking the beginning of what will eventually become a system of trails that circumnavigates the lake.

The Douglas County Board of Commissioners will consider approval of a new area plan for Lake Tahoe’s South Shore on Thursday, June 2. The Douglas County Area Plan is the first to be proposed since the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency adopted the Regional Plan Update in December 2012.

Join UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center for an Open House at the Tahoe City Field Station (Historic Hatchery) at 2400 Lake Forest Road from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 15. Visitors can tour the historic building, talk to TERC scientists about their work, and learn something new about Lake Tahoe. Local garden clubs will be on hand to give plant selection and gardening advice, and Red Truck of Truckee will sell food and beverages.

Roadside stations for Lake Tahoe boat inspections and watercraft decontamination are officially open at three locations — Meyers, Spooner Summit and Alpine Meadows — with stations at Northstar and Homewood to open May 23.

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.

The League to Save Lake Tahoe will be giving a presentation on the evenings of March 13-14 about Pipe Keepers, a new volunteer monitoring program.

Pipe Keepers is a volunteer based monitoring program that examines turbidity (clarity) of water that enters Lake Tahoe and its tributaries through storm drains.

Created in response to a resident’s concerns about a neighborhood storm pipe discharging dirty looking water directly into Lake Tahoe, Pipe Keepers began in the Fall of 2012 with trained local volunteers sampling outflow from storm drain pipes throughout the Tahoe Basin.

A 30-day public comment period began Thursday on plans associated with upgrades at the Camp Richardson Resort campground along Highway 89 near South Lake Tahoe.
Plans include upgrades and enhancements to the campground day use facilities as well as BMPs and road improvements to ease traffic congestion around the campground and along Highway 89 at the popular Lake Tahoe resort.

The Nevada Division of State Lands has funding available to implement Environmental Improvement Program projects on the Nevada side of the Lake Tahoe Basin.In order to be eligible, projects must be...

For the first time since 1987, Lake Tahoe has a new regional plan for development and land use.
Twelve of the 14 voting members of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency's governing board voted in favor of the new plan, with one member voting against it and another abstaining, according to TRPA spokesman Jeff Cowan.

Business interests say the plan is an overdue overhaul of regulations that will jump-start Tahoe's tourism economy while also protecting its environment.

As I end my role as Mayor, I am jazzed. While the tendency is to focus on what's wrong with the City, the truth is the City has had a very successful year. In April, Council set five strategic goals:

Lake Tahoe's biological health will be the focus of a State of the Lake presentation Dec. 13 by Dr. Geoff Schladow, director of the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center in Incline Village.

Boaters heading to Lake Tahoe in the next six weeks may experience a short delay when entering Emerald Bay due to an Asian clam control project that will be taking place there.
The Asian clam control project is being implemented by a team of partners from the Lake Tahoe Aquatic Invasive Species Program, with plans to treat an area of up to 5 acres at the mouth of Emerald Bay. Treatment will be accomplished by covering the infested lake bottom with thin rubber barriers, augmented with organic material, that reduce the available oxygen and smother the clams. It will be the largest project of its type in the history of Lake Tahoe.

A new road and an intersection reconfiguration, more parking spaces and BMP water improvements are among some of the changes being proposed by the U.S. Forest Service at the Tallac Historic Site near South Lake Tahoe. Public comments are being taken until Oct. 1 for the proposed changes, which could get off the ground next year.
Here is a Forest Service press release outlining the proposed changes and below is the attached 10-page plan.

Join thousands of volunteers nationwide to help keep our waterways clean and blue on September 15 for National Beach Cleanup Day. The League to Save Lake Tahoe will be coordinating a cleanup at Kings Beach State Recreation Area from 9 a.m. to noon. The League welcomes volunteers of all ages and abilities. Other Tahoe-area organizations will also be coordinating cleanups along the lake's shoreline and its tributaries

Lake Tahoe planning leaders gave their approval Thursday to a paradigm changing project at the South Shore, which would allow for a high-end resort complex at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course, the site of the American Century Championship.
The governing board of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency unanimously approved the Edgewood Tahoe Lodge and Golf Course realignment project that will make way for the 154-room lodge. Construction could begin in 2014, according to the Tahoe Daily Tribune.

The League to Save Lake Tahoe is partnering with the U.S. Forest Service and the Washoe Tribe for a volunteer beach clean-up of Tahoe's East Shore beaches, including Skunk Harbor and Chimney Beach. Volunteers will be helping to clean-up these secluded and beautiful Lake Tahoe beaches. Keeping Tahoe clean and blue is a collaborative effort where local residents and visitors alike can make a difference.

Children are invited to spend the day with scientists on Saturday, August 11, learning about the unique ecology, function, restoration and preservation of Lake Tahoe.