Collec’Thor

PREVENTING THE SPREAD OF AQUATIC INVASIVE WEEDS

The Tahoe Keys Lagoons and neighboring marina – the Lake’s largest – are choked with harmful, aquatic invasive plants that are creeping into the Lake itself. These invasive weeds threaten Lake Tahoe’s delicate ecology, which can impact water clarity. They outcompete native species, affect nutrient cycling and impact algal growth, which can turn Lake Tahoe’s blue water green.

Keep Tahoe Blue is leading a team of public and private partners, including the Tahoe Keys Marina and ECO-CLEAN Solutions, to implement innovative technologies that ratchet up containment on Tahoe’s largest infestation of aquatic invasive weeds.

A WATERBORNE WASTE BIN ON STEROIDS

The Collec’Thor is a high-capacity weed and trash skimmer that attracts and collects solid and liquid waste floating on the surface. It operates by continuously pumping water through its five-foot long filter. Water passes right through, while up to 220 pounds of floating weeds and trash are captured in the device’s hopper. The Collec’Thor is installed at the water’s edge or on a floating dock in areas where marine waste tends to travel.

The Tahoe Keys are ground zero for the infestation of invasive weeds at Tahoe. To stop the weeds from spreading further into the Lake itself and harming water quality, Keep Tahoe Blue has tested a series of innovative solutions since 2018 to contain the problem inside the Keys until a long-term solution is found.

Now in 2026, the most promising containment technologies identified over the past eight years are being used together — and their efficacy is being measured through data collection and scientific study. Our partners in this containment effort include the Tahoe Keys Marina, ECO-CLEAN Solutions, Inventive Resources, Inc., Marine Taxonomic Services, and Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.

INNOVATION IN ACTION

The Collec’Thor works alongside other weed-fighting innovations that Keep Tahoe Blue has introduced to Lake Tahoe.