Clean Water & Air

The destructive Quagga and Zebra mussels have recently infested 17 different lakes and reservoirs in California and Nevada. Lake Tahoe is seriously at risk. TRPA’s Aquatic Invasive Species Program is an important step in the right direction. Read more about how you can help prevent the spread of these invasives to Lake Tahoe.

In early 2010, the California Air Resources Board officially listed Tahoe as violating ozone standards. Local governments are now required to create plans to reduce the gas, which is harmful to people, wildlife and vegetation. Ozone is created in Tahoe when sunlight interacts with summertime car and boat exhaust. The League has been urging policy makers to find ways to bring Tahoe back into compliance when they review all development plans and projects.

Pipe Keepers is a volunteer-based pipe outflow monitoring program. The program examines pollution levels in water being released from storm drains throughout Tahoe's shoreline and its tributaries to see if it should be an area of heightened concern. 

The League plays a leading role in advocating for public investment in restoration projects included in the Tahoe Environmental Improvement Program. The EIP was established in 1997 as a coordinated effort designed to protect and restore Lake Tahoe’s natural resources. The program includes a list of erosion control, land acquisition, watershed, and forest ecosystem restoration projects. The League views the funding of this program, and the identification of priority projects, as key components in saving Lake Tahoe. 

The Lake Tahoe Boulevard lane reduction project represents a perfect opportunity to reduce pavement on a wetland area, which will help restore Lake Tahoe's clarity. The League believes Alternative 5 accomplishes the most for Lake Tahoe.

Read the League's May 2011 comment letter supporting Alternative 5.

The California Tahoe Conservancy and California State Parks are planning to restore the Upper Truckee River and reconfigure the Lake Tahoe Golf Course on Highway 50 between Meyers and South Lake Tahoe.

It’s becoming increasingly clear that sand used during snow removal operations is harmful to to the Lake. This sand, once it is ground up by cars and flows down storm drains into Tahoe, remains suspended in the lake for years. Dust from ground up road sand is also degrading air quality. The League will seek to persuade the California Department of Transportation to protect Tahoe’s air and water quality by limiting the type and amount of sand they apply and by using the best available street sweeping technology.

Transportation planning is the key to relieving dependence on the private automobile and improving air quality at Tahoe. Air and water quality are integrally linked, as science is showing that dust stirred up by cars travels to the lake and has a significant affect on clarity.

Despite pressure to weaken this landmark long-term water quality plan, the League in 2010 successfully advocated to keep strong protections for Lake Tahoe in the TMDL, which was approved in November, 2010, by the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board.

Placer County had proposed a biomass plant at Kings Beach until June 2011 when decision makers realized community opposition was too great. The League joined the community in their concern that the plant would create unacceptable environmental degradation, including air pollution that would exacerbate violations of TRPA and State of California ozone standards. The League was also concerned with air and water pollution associated with the increased trips by large vehicles hauling biomass.

Read our August 2010 comments on the biomass plant.

With the goal of restoring Lake Tahoe's famed water clarity, the League has worked closely with Tahoe’s congressional representatives on the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act, the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act, and Environmental Improvement Program. Read more about our Legislative Advocacy activities.

Homewood Mountain Resort plans to build an all-season resort with hundreds of units along Highway 89, a two-lane road that already experiences significant summertime traffic gridlock. The California side of Tahoe is already violating ozone standards during summer months.

In 2009, the League showed support for the US Forest Service's proposal to eliminate grazing from the Baldwin Allotment in order to protect sensitive habitats and water quality. The grazing allotment is approximately 200 acres on the lakeside portion of the Tallac Creek Watershed and includes wetland and riparian habitat both of which are important to wildlife, including the willow flycatcher. The beach pasture of the grazing allotment is adjacent to a known Tahoe yellow cress population, which is listed as endangered by both the state of California and Nevada. In addition to the erosion caused by grazing in sensitive habitat, the area has been out of compliance with Lahontan Water Control Board water quality standards for fecal coliform.

Read the League's March 2009 comments.

The Lahontan Water Board proposed to reissue a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit even though the three holders of the permit — the City of South Lake Tahoe, El Dorado County, and Placer County — had not met the requirements for stormwater discharge under their 2005 permit.

Read our August 2008 comments to the water board.

The League expressed concern that TRPA's proposed turf amendments would allow for unintended opportunities for soft coverage to be converted to hard coverage.

Read our 2008 letter to the TRPA.

This pilot project was designed to enhance the meadow ecosystem of Meeks Bay in cooperation with the Washoe Tribe. The League recommended additions to the project design in the areas of fish and wildlife, water quality maintenance and improvement, and soils.

The League expressed concern that CalTrans' EIP project did not emphasize road maintenance and monitoring, and maintenance of stormwater treatments.

Read our 2008 comments.