Jet skis

In the late 1990’s the League organized a campaign to encourage the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) to ban polluting two-stroke watercraft engines from Lake Tahoe.  Carbureted two-stroke motors, which are in many jet skis, dump up to one-third of their fuel, unburned, into the water.  The League’s campaign, which generated hundreds of letters and phone calls to the TRPA Governing Board, resulted in a ban on these polluting motors on Lake Tahoe in 1999.  Direct fuel-injected motors are still allowed, as they do not release their fuel.  Studies conducted in 2004 showed that the ban resulted in an 80-90% reduction in the amount of burned and unburned gasoline products in the Lake.  

Click here to find out more about TRPA’s watercraft regulations on Lake Tahoe.   For more information on the League’s campaign and position on two-stroke motors, contact Catherine Parsons at Catherine@keeptahoeblue.org.