water quality

The five month long grading season in Lake Tahoe ends on October 15 and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) has made it easier for builders to request an extension.

TRPA now has an online system to handle the requests in order to improve customer service and eliminate the need to people to drive to their office.

Grading season for construction projects in the Lake Tahoe Basin extends from May 1 to October 15. Soil disturbance during wet conditions can harm the lake’s water quality. Outside of the grading season, soil disturbance activities generally require an exception.

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.

Heavenly Mountain Resort's proposed Epic Discovery Project will be featured at an open house hosted by the U.S. Forest Service on Thursday, September 18.

The resort wants to expand year-round activities to include zipline and skycycle canopy tours, a mountain bike park, a ropes course, water activities, hiking trails, mountain excursion tours and nature interpretation. Heavenly is also proposing to create a snowcat emergency evacuation route for the gondola line.

The Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority would like to thank all of our community members, visitors, businesses and agencies who have helped keep our Lake Tahoe beaches clean throughout a busy summer season. Debris on Lake Tahoe’s beaches affects everyone’s enjoyment of the lake, and trash and debris on the beaches and streets can easily find its way to the lake and adversely impact lake clarity, water quality and wildlife.

As soon as the holiday visitors head home after the Labor Day weekend, the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) will close State Route 207 to through traffic starting Tuesday, September 2.

Kingsbury Grade will be closed at the top near Tramway Drive. The lake side of the Grade will be open but the valley side will not. NDOT will temporarily re-open SR207 for the Genoa Candy Dance September 27 and 28.

An environmental impact report on the Heavenly Epic Discovery Project is ready for public viewing. The new project, located at Heavenly Mountain Resort, will expand their summer activities to include more canopy tours, hiking and biking trails as well as interpretive activities.

Since 2011 the U.S. Forest Service has allowed more summer activities on national forest lands.

The following increase in activities are being proposed:

The City of South Lake Tahoe wants to hear what the public wants to see at Regan Beach in the future. As part of Recreation Master Plan the city is answering the requests of residents and visitors who would like to see improved public access to beaches.

What this is going to look like starts with the input from residents at the City sponsored planning meeting which will be held at Regan Beach on Tuesday, August 12 starting at 5:30 p.m.

From May 1 through July 31 each year, dogs are kept out of the Upper Truckee Marsh in order to protect wildlife such as the Yellow Headed Blackbird during their critical breeding season.

Leashed dogs are allowed back into the marsh starting on Friday, August 1.

The California Tahoe Conservancy owns and manages the 600 acre marsh, one of the largest remaining in the Sierra Nevada, for the protection and enhancement of wildlife habitat and water quality.

Children and their families are invited by U.C. Davis to visit their Tahoe Center for Environmental Sciences on Saturday, August 9 for a day of hand's on activities.

The 15th annual event is free and sponsored by the Tahoe Environmental Research Center. Children's Environmental Science Day includes more than 30 interactive science activities hosted by local organizations, all aimed at children ages 6 and up.

Looking for an enjoyable way to contribute to the Lake Tahoe community, either as a local or as a visitor?

Adopt-a-Beach is one of the nicest and easiest ways to protect this valuable and beautiful treasure and they're looking for several volunteers to help this summer. This program is sponsored by the City of South Lake Tahoe, Lake Tahoe Visitor's Authority, U.S. Forest Service, League to Save Lake Tahoe, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and South Tahoe Refuse.

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.

The U.S. Forest Service has released details of the final BMP project for the Tallac Historic Site. The project will reconfigure the three entrances to the site in order to reduce confusion of travelers and create a more efficient use of paved surfaces. There will also be an internal road created to serve as a connector between Tallac, Kiva and the Visitor Center so vehicles will not have to exit to Hwy 89 to move about.

This project was first proposed in January of 2011. Work may begin in Spring of 2015 and is expected to take 10 years to complete.

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.

Construction has begun on the 2014 State Streets Waterline Replacement Project.

This project will improve water quality, quantity, pressures and, most importantly, will enhance firefighting capability in the State Streets neighborhood. The project will consist of installation of a 12” main on Tahoe Keys Blvd. and 6” mains on Idaho Ave., Wyoming Ave., Montana Ave., Utah Ave., Colorado Ave., Arizona Ave., Texas Ave., and Jeffery St. In addition to the water mains, fire hydrants will be installed at approximately 500 foot intervals to provide better fire protection.

They’ve been called unpleasant names that can’t be printed. They’ve received death threats. For a few days one may even assume they were hated. That was then.

They’re being called courageous. They’re being called heroes. They’re being thanked for caring about our environment and bringing the effect of fireworks in the lake to the forefront. That is now.

Proactive forest management activities can reduce high-severity fire by up to 75%, save up to three times the cost of fighting forest fires and bring added benefits to people, water and wildlife according to a study released today.

As we all know, the economy and our environment are fundamentally intertwined. If we ever doubted the connection, those doubts should have been erased through the impacts of the Great Recession on our local economy. We need revenue from tourism to sustain our economy, which in turn helps to fund environmental projects that protect the natural beauty, which draws millions of visitors every year. We cannot have a thriving economy without protecting the environment and we cannot have a beautiful natural environment without money to protect and properly sustain it.

With support from California Proposition 84 stormwater grant funds, the Tahoe Resource Conservation District (Tahoe RCD) is leading the effort to measure pollutants in urban runoff at Lake Tahoe to help evaluate the combined effectiveness of pollutant control measures and consistently track and report monitoring findings. This effort, known as the Regional Storm Water Monitoring Program (RSWMP) is a collaborative program supported by regulatory agencies, local government representatives, and scientists in the Lake Tahoe region.

The Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board, along with the Tahoe
Regional Planning Agency, the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection and the United States Environmental Protection Agency, invite members of the public to participate in upcoming meetings focused on assessing the condition of Lake Tahoe’s nearshore environment.

Heavenly Mountain Resort's proposal to expand to year round, non-skiing activities is now under review by the U.S. Forest Service, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board. Heavenly's plan is to create a summer experience for guests with the addition of zipline and skycycle canopy tours, a mountain bike park, a ropes course, water activities, hiking trails,mountain excursion tours and nature interpretation.

You may have noticed the new bus shelters placed this summer along Highway 50 in South Lake Tahoe. They were installed by the Tahoe Transportation District, operator of the local South Shore Transit System. The shelters won't only come with seating and protect those waiting for buses from the elements, they also have new bike racks and bear safe trash cans.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) is currently reviewing the opening brief filed by regional plan litigants who, according to the Agency, are continuing their misinformation campaign about the updated environmental plan that is supported widely by environmental advocates, business groups, and state and local leaders.

The Nevada Chapter of the American Planning Association has recognized League to Save Lake Tahoe Policy Analyst Shannon Eckmeyer, Esq., with a Citizen Planner Award for her work on Tahoe’s regional plan update and area plans. The award was announced at the chapter’s conference at Lake Tahoe this week.

The award goes to individuals who are not professional planners but who have advanced or promoted the cause of planning in the public arena.

The, members of the fire-based Multi-Agency Coordinating Group (MAC) and the Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team (TFFT), expressed appreciation for the joint Proclamation issued by the Governors of Nevada and California prior to the 17th annual Lake Tahoe Summit held in August.