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Watershed Priorities
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Presidential Commitments to Lake Tahoe:
EPA Fulfills Promises
In 1997, Executive Order 13057 was signed directing federal departments and agencies having principal management or jurisdictional authorities in the Lake Tahoe Region to establish a Federal Interagency Partnership. The purpose of the partnership was to implement meaningful actions at Lake Tahoe to improve water quality, transportation, forest management, recreation and tourism, and to protect Lake Tahoe's environment. To accomplish the objectives of the Executive Order, 39 actions were developed known as Presidential Commitments. EPA is responsible for 12 of these 39 Commitments and has fulfilled all of them.
Read more about EPA's Presidential Commitments (PDF) (3 pp, 19K, About PDF) and the Lake Tahoe Federal Interagency Partnership (PDF) (16 pp, 1.3M, About PDF)
Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe, one of the deepest lakes in the world, is a popular recreation area in the Sierra Nevada mountains on the California-Nevada border. The legendary lake attracts millions of visitors from around the world for winter and summer recreation. The popularity of this once pristine region has led to increased urbanization and significant environmental degradation.
The lake is more than one quarter of a mile deep and known for its deep blue color and clarity. Over the past few decades, the lake's clarity has been decreasing at an alarming rate of nearly one foot per year. The decreasing clarity has been largely due to storm water runoff, urban development, air quality and erosion.
EPA Activities
EPA Region 9 has provided more than $31 million since 1997 to promote water quality efforts in and around the lake. Several years ago, the EPA placed a full-time staff person in Tahoe to work with the community and local agencies to coordinate ongoing watershed projects in the area.
The EPA supports a variety of watershed projects in an effort to reduce sediment and pollutants from flowing into the lake.
- National watershed grant. In 2004, EPA awarded $1.1 million to the state of California to help develop innovative approaches to cost-effectively restore Lake Tahoe. The EPA selected Tahoe and 14 other projects out of 115 proposals submitted in a nationwide competition. The Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board, located in South Lake Tahoe, Calif., is working with the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP) on the grant project. The grant funding will be used to evaluate market-based approaches and technologies to control air and water pollution in the Lake Tahoe area. Initial project products are available, including a comprehensive report on pollutant reduction opportunities throughout the Tahoe Basin (PDF) (279 pp, 3.7M, About PDF)
and background information for assessing the feasibility of water quality crediting and trading. A final feasibility report is expected by Spring 2009. These products could significantly affect and improve Lake Tahoe's water quality control plan (see below) by providing flexibility and a means to minimize the expense of implementing the plan. - Current Grants. This year, EPA is managing over 5.7million dollars in grants for projects that involve gathering data that assist our partner agencies in addressing Lake Tahoe environmental concerns. Currently-funded projects include the following:
- Complete Lake Tahoe's water pollution control plan
- Evaluate trends and patterns in water quality;
- Evaluate nutrients and sediment loading into Lake Tahoe from urban runoff;
- Monitor and model air pollution sources, including mobile emissions;
- Develop the Tahoe Integrated Information Management System.
- Water pollution control plan (TMDL). The EPA, Lahontan board and NDEP are working together with numerous other federal, state and local entities to develop a water quality plan (known as a total maximum daily load, or "TMDL") for the lake. The plan will identify the sources of pollution and specify reductions in sediment and nutrients that are necessary to restore the lake's clarity.
- Science consortium. The EPA helped to establish and is currently supporting the activities of a consortium of Lake Tahoe Basin scientists. The Lake Tahoe Science Consortium serves to guide, peer review, and consult on science problems in the Basin, and has developed a Science Plan (PDF) (297 pp, 3.3M) to guide future research , which EPA has peer reviewed. A revised Science Plan that addresses peer review comments is to be posted on the TSC website by November 2008.
Partnership Activities
In 2003, the Department of the Interior dedicated $300 million for restoration of Lake Tahoe, under the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act. The Lake Tahoe Basin Federal Advisory Committee, a partnership of federal, state, local agencies and other key stakeholders, works together to identify priorities for Lake Tahoe environmental projects and determine project funding.
Partners And Resources 
- Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, a local agency responsible for overseeing development and environmental quality standards in the Lake Tahoe area.
- PATHWAY, a comprehensive planning effort that works to create a vision for the Tahoe Basin with input from all stakeholders.
- Tahoe Integrated Information Management System (TIIMS), a web-based interactive information repository for Lake Tahoe Basin restoration and planning efforts.
- USFS Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit
- Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board
- Bureau of Water Quality Planning, State of Nevada
- Tahoe Science Consortium
Contact Information
Jacques Landy (landy.jacques@epa.gov)(775) 589-5248