erosion

If you've driven through the Bijou area of South Lake Tahoe over the last couple of years you know that it's been undergoing a major stormwater treatment transformation with the replacement of pipes and the addition of water treatment chambers.

The City of South Lake Tahoe held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday, celebrating the near completion of the project which is treating stormwater runoff from 42 acres within the Bijou Commercial Core area, preventing 21,000 pounds of fine sediment particles from reaching Lake Tahoe each year.

With California and Nevada grappling with a third year of drought, one of the largest and most complex challenges we face over the long run at Lake Tahoe is adapting to a changing climate.

Climate change will affect the protection and restoration of our beautiful mountain lake as well as the expansive forests around it. And the health of our lake, forests, and communities are all intertwined.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency announced recipients of its 2013 Best in the Basin awards today. Award winners in the agency’s 24th annual Best in the Basin include remodel, new construction, Best Management Practices, stream restoration and erosion control projects that stand out as examples of the best environmental planning, design and implementation.

South Lake Tahoe motorists can expect one-way traffic control this week, from Monday through Thursday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Highway 50 from Airport Road to F Street. This stretch of road is getting erosion control and paving done.

This is part of a $12.1 million water-quality and roadway improvement project from the "Y" intersection of Highways 50 and 89 to the South Lake Tahoe Airport adding curb and gutter, sidewalks, new drainage systems and repaving the highway.

Completion is expected this fall.

The Camp Richardson Corral operates under a U.S. Forest Service Special Use Permit that is up for renewal. As part of the process, the USFS has opened a month long period for comments from the public.

They are asking for input on a proposal to reissue the corral a 20 year special use permit for the operation and maintenance of the corral and outfitting and guiding services.

Two miles of the Angora Creek area is getting post-fire restoration work by the U.S. Forest Service over the next two months.

The project is needed on the area after the 2007 Angora Fire to prevent future channel erosion and to improve the aquatic habitat for fish and amphibians. To accomplish this they will strategically place downed logs.

The chemical treatment of invasive plants by the U.S. Forest Service in Lake Tahoe will continue through the summer at about 70 different locations totaling 12.5 acres. In South Lake Tahoe the treatment will take place at the Angora wildfire area, Baldwin Beach meadow, Burke Creek trail, Luther Pass campground, Heavenly Creek Meadow, Heavenly Ski Area, Rabe Meadow and the Spooner Summit fire station as well as at several urban lots that the Forest Service controls.

The official dedication of South Lake Tahoe's 1.2-mile shared-use bike path that connects Elks Point and Round Hill Pines and provides access to Rabe Meadow with Nevada Beach and Round Hill Pines Resort will be held on Thursday, June 19 at 12 p.m.

The second segment of the Stateline-to-Stateline Bikeway, South Shore Demonstration Project adds to the existing path for a total of 2.2 miles. Meanwhile, the North Demonstration Project is expected to begin construction in 2015 and the first phase will connect Incline Village to Sand Harbor State Park.

A $2.8M Proposition 84 grand was received by the City of South Lake Tahoe’s Engineering Division yesterday. The Round 2 grant will correct erosion control issues in the Sierra Tract neighborhood.

The Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board has approved a grant of $704,000 to the Truckee River Watershed Council for three watershed restoration projects that will correct detrimental impacts to streams and meadows from roads and historical logging activities.

Mayor Tom Davis touched on more than a couple of dozen points during his State of the City Address which was presented to an overflowing full house at Tuesday's City Council meeting.

Among the Davis's highlighted city successes for the year:

Linear Park - Over $600,000 was spent on a paved bike path, landscaping and an additional 22 lights on a stretch from Wildwood Avenue to just before Pioneer Trail.

The Sugar Pine Foundation's goal is to save the Sugar Pine and White Pine trees from blister rust in Lake Tahoe by educating and and involving the community in hands-on forest stewardship.

The group has several opportunities this fall to help save the trees by planting seedling in areas around the lake. 850 seedlings have already been planted this fall and more will be planted at the following events:

Former U.S. Vice-President Al Gore said, in his speech to scientists, elected officials, environmentalists, business leaders, fire department officials, students and others in the audience of the 2013 Lake Tahoe Summit, that what we’ve learned at Tahoe can help inform the rest of the world to protect their resources and communities.

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.

New ordinances regarding land coverage at Lake Tahoe came into effect June 19 following final approval of a key water quality plan by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and EPA announced recently.

The action updates the Clean Water Act Section 208 Lake Tahoe Water Quality Management Plan — last fully updated in 1988. The 208 Plan provides a comprehensive framework for water quality management in the Lake Tahoe basin and includes provisions for land coverage limits.

The federal government settled two lawsuits Thursday seeking recovery against PG&E and its contractors for wildfires that scorched thousands of acres of national forest land in 2004 and 2008.

The fires — known as the “Power Fire” and the “Whiskey Fire” — collectively burned more than 18,000 acres of national forest. These settlements, totaling $50.5 million, are a significant step toward restoring the precious national resources destroyed by the fires, said U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner.

The City of South Lake Tahoe has been awarded a competitive grant from the State Water Resources Control Board through the Proposition 84 Stormwater Grant Program (SWGP).

A total of $42 million was available for Round 1 Implementation projects throughout the State that are designed to reduce and prevent stormwater contamination of rivers, lakes, and streams. The City was one of the 37 applicants to make it through the first round of the application process, and one of only 24 applicants selected for funding.

Fire fuel reduction plans and forest thinning projects amounting to about 10,000 acres around South Lake Tahoe have been approved by the Lahontan Regional Water Board. Plans will get underway this summer with efforts lasting anywhere between eight to 10 years, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

The large-scale project has been in the works since the 2007 Angora fire where 254 homes burned.
The following is a joint news release from the U.S. Forest Service and the Lahontan Board.

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.

Flooding in all quarters. Decades worth of erosion in a few weeks. Devastating landslides and avalanches. Hurricane force winds and tree falls. Road, power, and business outages. And then the real impacts to Lake Tahoe and ecosystems begin.

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.

The environmental non-profit Tahoe Fund presented a $10,000 check today to the Nevada interagency team responsible for implementing thestate’s highest priority Lake Tahoe restoration project, the Third Creek and Incline Creek watershed project. The grant finances a pedestrian bridge over Incline Creek to provide a recreational amenity in the heart of Incline Village and support the Environmental Improvement Program to improve lake clarity and recreational opportunities in the Tahoe Basin.

A three-year study of defensible space and erosion control conducted by a group of local organizations found that tilling aged wood chips into the soil is most effective at minimizing fire risk ...

The nomination period is open for the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency’s 2012 Best in the Basin awards program, which annually recognizes environmentally compatible projects in the Tahoe Basin that stand out as the best designed, planned and implemented.
For more than two decades, the Best in the Basin awards program has recognized those property owners, contractors, architects and planners whose work and investment should be held up as examples to follow.