The status of funding and staffing for our federal agency partners is changing on a daily basis. More than 75% of the Tahoe Basin is federally managed public land, so some of these decisions can and will affect our efforts to protect Lake Tahoe.
Keep Tahoe Blue’s policy experts speak with our public sector partners daily to understand their challenges, identify where our collaborative work is threatened, appeal to our elected representatives at the state level and in Washington, D.C., and to step up so we don’t lose momentum on shared conservation work. Read more about the importance of advocacy in our blog. |
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25 Years of Citizen Science |
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Snapshot Day Turns 25 with
Volunteers Leading the Way |
Join us this spring for an unforgettable experience at the 25th annual Snapshot Day celebration on May 10th! Volunteers will hit the water throughout the Truckee River Watershed to take samples from creeks, streams, and lakes to capture a snapshot of Tahoe’s water quality. It’s one of the most impactful and fun ways to protect Tahoe’s water — and it only takes one day.
Sign up to join a team, or become a trained Team Leader and guide your crew with training from our science experts. Snapshot Day data helps track the Lake's health and spot changes early.
But Snapshot Day is just the beginning. From Eyes on the Lake training to the Bike Path Cleanup, our upcoming events connect people like you with meaningful ways to Keep Tahoe Blue. Whether you have a few hours free or fifteen minutes, there’s a way to make a difference.
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Meeks Bay Restoration Project Update |
What is it?
The Meeks Bay Restoration Project will restore degraded plant and animal habitat in Meeks Lagoon and Meeks Creek and remove the shuttered marina while maintaining recreation access. The overall goal of the project is to restore a functioning stream, barrier beach, and lagoon ecosystem — including addressing aquatic invasive species — and to provide sustainable recreation opportunities, education, and access.
The Meeks Creek watershed on Lake Tahoe’s West Shore includes about 68 acres of severely impacted land and waterways. Before the marina was created by dredging the lagoon in the 1960s, the Meeks Creek and Lagoon system provided important habitat for native fish and natural filtration that kept fine sediment pollution out of Lake Tahoe. It was also a summer homesite for the native Washoe people for thousands of years before they were forcibly removed. Máyala Wáta, as it is known by the Washoe, was a site for hunting, fishing, gathering medicinal plants, and conducting ceremonies.
In 2016, the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California, Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board, and USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit partnered to begin work on a full restoration of the Meeks Creek watershed.
The Washoe Tribe is leading the project to restore Meeks Meadow, just upstream from Meeks Bay, which began with invasive species removal that has already been completed. The project will reintroduce cultural and indigenous land stewardship practices to help sustain the meadow landscape, including reinstating traditional burning practices that had been in place for thousands of years. Where is it in the process?
In 2018, initial work to outline the scope of an environmental study for the project was completed. In 2020, the project team shared design alternatives with the public, including various options for pedestrian paths and watercraft access. In 2022, the project’s Draft Environmental Impact Report/Statement (DEIR/DEIS) was circulated for public review and comment. In August 2024, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency voted to certify the project’s DEIR/DEIS, solidifying the plan and allowing it to move into the implementation phase.
Keep Tahoe Blue engaged in the project design from the start and was a strong supporter of the certified project design alternative, which prioritizes access for non-motorized watercraft and includes full restoration of Meeks Creek and Lagoon. In addition, our team collaborated with the Washoe Tribe to conduct hands-on restoration work in Meeks Meadow, as well as expand stewardship work at Meeks Bay Resort through invasive species education and litter prevention efforts.
What’s next?
A decades-old bridge that carries Highway 89 traffic across Meeks Creek is an impediment to restoring the creek and lagoon ecosystem. In 2024, proposed changes for the Highway 89 bridge — which would increase recreational access for paddlers, improve fish passage upstream, and prevent erosive flows moving toward the Lake — were made part of the restoration project. Early in 2025, Caltrans secured funding for the work through the Federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
The bridge replacement, slated to begin in spring 2027, will be the next step in implementing the Meeks Bay Restoration work.
What’s the League’s position? SUPPORT
The League is very supportive of this rare opportunity for restoration of a complete ecosystem that will also remove the existing marina infrastructure. The project will also accelerate ongoing efforts by the Washoe Tribe and USDA Forest Service to restore the natural functions, tribal access, and plant and animal habitat of Meeks Meadow and Meeks Creek. Climate connection
Landscape-scale restoration projects, which seek to revitalize entire functioning ecosystems, build Tahoe’s ability to withstand the impacts of climate change such as drought and wildfire. This project is an unparalleled opportunity for restoration of an aquatic ecosystem that is uncommon in Tahoe. Restoration projects such as this should be prioritized to help build climate change resilience while reducing fine sediment pollution entering Lake Tahoe.
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Keep Tahoe Blue Leads Effort to Limit the Sale of Single-Use Plastic Water Bottles in Nevada at Tahoe |
What is it?
As part of our work to limit the availability and therefore littering of single-use plastic in Tahoe, we’re a proud sponsor of Nevada’s Senate Bill 324. If signed into law, SB 324 would prohibit the sale of single-use plastic water bottles under four liters from any establishment in Nevada within the Lake Tahoe Basin, stretching from the casino corridor in Stateline on the South Shore to Crystal Bay on the North Shore. The bill is sponsored by Senator Melanie Scheible of Las Vegas and supporters include the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority, the Tahoe Chamber, numerous local Nevada businesses, and Keep Tahoe Blue, among others.
If passed, Nevada communities within the Tahoe Basin would join South Lake Tahoe and Truckee in banning single-use plastic water bottles, one of the most common types of litter found on beaches, trails and streets during our cleanup events. Removing a prevalent source of single-use plastics is intended to prevent harmful plastic pollution from damaging the Lake’s unique water quality, animals, and the natural beauty.
Where is it in the process?
The bill was first introduced in March and assigned to the Senate Natural Resources Committee, where our team spoke in favor. On April 10, the bill passed unanimously out of committee, and on April 22, it was passed by the Senate on a 16-4 vote.
What’s next?
The Nevada State Assembly will take up and decide on the bill before the legislative session concludes in early June, starting with a hearing in the Assembly Natural Resources Committee. Keep Tahoe Blue’s policy team, including Government Affairs Manager Noa Banayan and Policy Director Gavin Feiger, will continue vocalizing the organization’s support for the bill and rallying environmental, business, and community allies to do the same.
What’s the League’s position? SUPPORT
Banning single-use plastic water bottles basin-wide is one of Keep Tahoe Blue’s policy goals, which we’ve pursued with our allies in the Nevada Legislature. We supported single-use plastic water bottle bans in the City of South Lake Tahoe and the Town of Truckee and are strong supporters of SB 324. Keep Tahoe Blue will continue to back science-based, innovative efforts to make Tahoe litter-free.
While volunteer litter cleanups led by Keep Tahoe Blue and others remove thousands of pounds of pollution from the Tahoe environment each year, they are not a sustainable, long-term litter prevention solution. However, the data gathered through those efforts – detailing types and amounts of litter removed – provide compelling evidence to support policies that stop litter at the source. In testimony provided in a committee hearing on April 10, we shared some of that recent data. From 2023-2024, Keep Tahoe Blue organized 417 cleanups on the Nevada side of
Lake Tahoe, which removed: - More than 2,000 plastic water bottles,
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4,000 plastic bottle caps, and
- 17,000 miscellaneous pieces of plastic that likely could have come from the degradation of those bottles over time.
Climate Connection
Littered plastic water bottles can break down into microplastics that damage the Lake’s delicate ecology, threaten its wildlife, and further exacerbate other impacts from a changing climate. Plastics originate as fossil fuels and emit greenhouse gases throughout their use. Extracting and producing plastics generate GHGs, as does the transportation and disposal of them. Recycling requires more energy and transportation, and landfill disposal releases methane — a potent GHG.
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Image: Tahoe Cross Country Lodge Project |
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What is it?
As part of a plan to upgrade the Tahoe Cross-Country Center, the Tahoe Cross Country and Tahoe Cross Country Ski Education Association (TCCSEA), collectively known as Tahoe XC, will relocate and expand their current lodge by moving and repurposing the historic Schilling Lodge. The new facility will be located on Polaris Road adjacent to the North Tahoe High School and Middle School. The Tahoe City Public Utility District (TCPUD) voted to approve the project and finalize its Environmental Impact Report in February 2021. Shortly thereafter, local residents filed a lawsuit citing concerns the project would add traffic on narrow neighborhood streets and increase vehicle miles traveled (VMT), which is an important planning metric used to limit pollution from tailpipes and erosion. The League opposed the project in its original form due to a lack of mitigation for its traffic impacts and associated pollution.
Where is it in the process?
In September of 2021, the two parties settled the lawsuit based on Tahoe XC’s agreement to include traffic calming features, bike lanes, and a shared-use parking agreement with the adjacent high school campus to reduce construction of new parking. The League advocated for all these improvements and welcomed Tahoe XC’s openness to make changes.
Since the legal settlement, Tahoe XC has made additional design changes to enhance the project’s sustainability. The project will now feature a combination of solar panels, a geothermal heat pump system, and energy-efficient appliances to become the Basin’s first net zero commercial building, meaning it is planned to consume less electricity than it creates. What’s next?
The first project phase, which got underway in September 2024, involves trailhead relocation to the lodge’s future home adjacent to the school, as well as site preparation. An additional construction phase will follow as the TCCSEA raises the needed funds.
What’s the League’s position? SUPPORT
The project is a strong example of responsible, Lake-friendly development within the Lake Tahoe Basin. We applaud the proponents’ willingness to make sustainability improvements above and beyond the requirements of the settlement agreement — improvements that will give the entire project a very small environmental footprint.
Keep Tahoe Blue’s land use and policy experts engage with projects inside and outside the Tahoe Basin to give the Lake’s delicate environment a voice — from projects’ very earliest stages to construction and beyond. We’re happy to work with developers who make it a priority to protect the Lake. Climate connection
Development projects have the potential to generate new traffic, triggering erosion and tailpipe emissions that are known to impact Lake Tahoe’s water clarity and accelerate climate change.
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Image:Tahoe Blue Event Center |
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Tahoe Blue Event Center – New Permit Conditions |
What is it?
The Tahoe Blue Event Center, named for its title sponsor Tahoe Blue Vodka, is a 132,000-square-foot, multi-purpose meeting and events venue located at the intersection of Lake Parkway and US 50 at Stateline, Nevada. It opened to the public in September 2023.
Keep Tahoe Blue was heavily involved during the project’s planning stages to ensure its design and ongoing management minimize new traffic, parking strain, and pollution. Through our advocacy, the Event Center is providing significant funding for Lake Link — the South Shore’s free, on-demand microtransit service — and other traffic-reducing elements, such as more frequent Tahoe Transportation District bus service and parking management. However, ensuring these traffic- and pollution-mitigating measures are having the intended effect is reliant on ongoing measurement of visits to the venue. The system that would have captured that data was never installed, leaving the Event Center out of environmental compliance for nearly a year and a half after it opened.
Where is it in the process?
Keep Tahoe Blue flagged the Event Center’s noncompliance, then worked closely with the permitting authority, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA), and the project’s owner, the Tahoe Douglas Visitors Authority (TDVA), to correct it by updating the venue’s permit.
The negotiations did result in a three-part change to the project's permit conditions: - The Event Center shifted from a cap on the total number of events allowed per year, to an attendance limit of 250,000.
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TRPA will monitor attendance and compliance on an ongoing basis.
- TDVA will take additional steps to reduce car trips and pollution, including:
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Building a paved pedestrian path along US 50 linking the Event Center to an existing parking structure at the Kingsbury Transit Center.
- Offering fixed route bus service two hours before and after each event with 1,500 or more estimated attendees.
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Strengthened commitment to fund Lake Link service through ticket surcharges that are now inflation-adjusted.
Even after these changes, the original intent of the Event Center permit remains the same: to ensure the venue does not increase car trips — and the pollution they create — on an annual basis or during the peak summer visitation period.
What’s next? The new permit conditions are in effect and TDVA will help guide the the process to construct the new sidewalk along US 50 to Kingsbury Grade, which is expected to be completed by or before 2029. What’s the League’s position? SUPPORT
Keep Tahoe Blue’s policy experts were satisfied with the project’s original permit conditions. However, when the Event Center fell out of compliance, it exposed a gap in needed monitoring and enforcement. Following our negotiations with TDVA and TRPA, we are confident the new permit conditions have proper accountability measures built in, and that they will further prevent added traffic and pollution from affecting the community or environment.
Climate connection
Car travel within the Tahoe Basin triggers erosion and tailpipe emissions that are known to impact Lake Tahoe’s water clarity and accelerate climate change. Patrons to the Event Center have the potential to add car traffic, and thus damage Lake Tahoe. The traffic mitigations built into the project’s permit conditions encourage visitors to choose lake-friendly transportation options to get to the venue, thus minimizing pollution and strain on the community.
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Updated Boating Inspection
Requirements Due to Golden Mussels |
What is it?
In October 2024, a new invasive species was discovered in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, just a few hours' drive from Lake Tahoe, and has since spread to other waterbodies. The golden mussel had never been detected in North America prior to last year. It is similar to quagga and zebra mussels, two extremely harmful species that have drastically altered the freshwater ecosystems where they’ve taken hold. The golden mussel can grow in thick mats on pipes, piers, and natural surfaces at varying water depths, altering natural nutrient cycling and water quality. In Tahoe, their impact could be disastrous. The golden mussel is a more severe threat to Lake Tahoe due to its ability to withstand colder water temperatures like Lake Tahoe’s and reproduce more quickly than quagga or zebra mussels.
California’s waterways are highly interconnected. The vast majority of boats that visit Tahoe also visit other water bodies in the state, potentially including the 30 locations where the golden mussel has been found in California to date, including as far south as Bakersfield. Lake Tahoe has a robust boat inspection and decontamination system in place for preventing the introduction of new aquatic invasive species, which is administered jointly by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) and Tahoe Resource Conservation District (TRCD). The program’s protocols were recently strengthened in reaction to the golden mussel discovery.
Where is it in the process?
In March, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency voted to make decontamination mandatory for all visiting motorized watercraft entering Lake Tahoe. Previously, all visiting boats would be inspected and only decontaminated if non-native organisms were found. Decontamination fees will now begin at $30 and increase based on the presence of mud, water, plants, or animals and the watercraft’s number of ballast tanks and water intakes. Visiting boats that arrive Clean, Drained and Dry will avoid fees above the baseline. “Tahoe Only” boats that were launched last in Lake Tahoe and have a Tahoe security seal can launch again without reinspection, as in years past.
Non-motorized watercraft — such as kayaks, paddleboards, and even floaties and fishing gear— are just as likely as boats to transport aquatic invasive species. Anyone planning to use non-motorized gear must take the initiative to Clean, Drain and Dry their equipment before each time it hits the water. Watch this video to learn how. A network of CD3 machines will help.
What’s next?
The updated boat inspection and decontamination protocols are now in effect. The boat inspection station in Meyers is currently open; the stations at Alpine Meadows and Spooner Summit open May 3. The new inspection and decontamination requirements will take more time than in years past, so boaters are strongly encouraged to schedule appointments in advance to save time. Make an appointment at tahoeboatinspections.com.
What’s the League’s position? SUPPORT
It’s crucial to keep golden mussels out of Lake Tahoe to protect its unique but fragile water quality and clarity. The League strongly supports the updated boat inspection protocols and is working hand in hand with both TRPA and TRCD to spread awareness about the threat posed by golden mussels, and encourage everyone to Clean, Drain, and Dry any and all equipment before it touches Lake Tahoe. Climate connection
Warming air and water temperature driven by climate change make Lake Tahoe more hospitable for aquatic invasive species, while also leaving more areas of the Lake susceptible to their spread.
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Image: Chris KIllian, TRCD |
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Tahoe Keys Control Methods Test Completed |
What is it?
The Control Methods Test (CMT) is a three-year, science-based program that tested a wide range of treatment methods, alone and in combination, to control the infestation of aquatic invasive weeds in targeted areas within the Tahoe Keys. The project is being administered by the Tahoe Keys Property Owners Association (TKPOA), with assistance from the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, specialty contractors, and Keep Tahoe Blue.
The CMT’s findings will guide a long-term strategy to tackle Tahoe’s most threatening invasive species infestation in the Keys’ shallow lagoons, stop its spread further into the Lake, and help protect water quality and clarity lake wide.
Where is it in the process?
In the summer of 2022, the first year of testing began in designated areas within the Keys’s lagoons. In addition to non-chemical methods like laminar flow aeration and UV-C light treatment, EPA-approved herbicides were applied in small areas sequestered behind two layers of protective barriers. The one-time, targeted chemical application was intended to “knock back” or reduce the aquatic weed biomass, which it did effectively and safely. In the summer of 2023, TKPOA expanded the use of non-chemical methods, including UV light treatment, bottom barriers, and diver-assisted suction harvesting to evaluate if the knock-back achieved in 2022 could be sustained. In large part, the tests achieved that goal. The CMT’s final season of trials — which continued non-chemical treatments — were completed in September 2024. As in 2023, weed knock back was largely sustained. Extremely different water levels compared to the two prior summers provided valuable insight into how deeper water affects treatment areas.
The CMT’s in-water trials for this comprehensive, precedent-setting program are now complete.
What’s next?
The CMT project team is drafting a comprehensive final report analyzing all three years of the test’s environmental monitoring and hundreds of thousands of data points. Once complete, the report will be reviewed by the Tahoe Science Advisory Council, an independent group of scientists, and released to the public this spring. The report’s cumulative findings will inform long-term management plans for addressing aquatic invasive weeds in the Tahoe Keys so they cannot spread further into the Lake.
What’s the League’s position? SUPPORT
Aquatic invasive species are the single largest ecological threat to Lake Tahoe and must be contained. The League has been heavily involved in all aspects of the CMT, from designing the project's tests to funding adaptive management and non-chemical treatments, and watching closely to ensure all tests are executed safely and with long-term invasive species control and containment at the forefront. It has been our priority to ensure that the process is guided by and adheres to the best available science to protect Tahoe’s water quality.
We support the CMT because the status quo has failed to control the problem. The CMT has a firm foundation in the best available science, and the test’s findings will help inform a long-term invasive weed control strategy to protect water quality and clarity.
Climate connection
Climate change is creating more hospitable habitat for aquatic invasive species and harmful algal blooms in Lake Tahoe. Prolonged drought lowers Tahoe’s water level, expanding areas of shallow water that warm easily — especially in elevated air temperatures — and allows for invasive weeds to flourish.
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Emerald Bay Shuttle
From July 15 through October 15, shuttles leaving from Camp Richardson, the South Lake Tahoe “Y” Transit Center, and Sugar Pine Point will carry visitors to and from Emerald Bay for a roundtrip fee. The pilot program allows people to visit when they want, rather than having to arrive early in the morning or wait in long lines of traffic to find a legal parking space. The shuttles will run seven days a week and are paired with additional restrictions and enforcement of illegal and dangerous off-highway parking. The program is funded by Keep Tahoe Blue and the Tahoe Fund. El Dorado County Supervisor Brooke Laine is helping lead the effort.
Village at Palisades Tahoe Lawsuit
Sierra Watch and Keep Tahoe Blue’s lawsuit against Alterra Mountain Company’s plans for development in Olympic Valley is in pre-trial proceedings. We remain open to a compromise solution that will protect Lake Tahoe while modernizing Olympic Valley.
Barton Hospital Project
Earlier this month, TRPA raised the level of environmental review required for the proposed Barton hospital project at Stateline, Nevada. Barton now must complete an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), which means a more detailed evaluation process and more opportunities for public review and input. Tahoe Area Plan Updates
After TRPA passed its Phase 2 Housing Amendments in 2023 to address the lack of affordable housing in the Tahoe Region, some local governments — including Washoe and Placer counties — had to amend their area plans to be consistent with the new policies. These housing-focused amendments should be complete in 2025. Also, the City of South Lake Tahoe is creating a new area plan for its “Midtown” area.
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