99th ESA Annual Meeting (August 10 -- 15, 2014)

FT 7

Lake Tahoe: Exploration of Challenges and Solutions to Protect One of the Gems of the Sierra Nevada

Lake Tahoe is one of the deepest, clearest lakes in the world. In the last 150 years the lake has been influenced by development in the watershed leading to the progressive degradation of the lake’s water quality.  Historical development was associated with the clear cut logging of the forests to promote mining extraction in the mid 1800s and more recently included development associated with tourism and urbanization. Researchers have been investigating and monitoring ecological changes to the lake including the water clarity, thermal dynamics, biological composition, as well as primary and secondary production. The science led efforts have been utilized to develop a Regional Planning Agency and coordinated efforts by federal, state, local, and nongovernmental organizations to implement environmental policies to conserve and restore the lake.  In this short visit, we will learn about current status of the ecology of the lake by visiting the following locations:

1) Tahoe Center for Environmental Sciences facility in Tahoe City Fish Hatchery and discuss the efforts that are underway to conserve the lake related to clarity and native ecology of the lake, 

2) Tahoe City Dam and Truckee River outflow,

3) Emerald Bay, to discuss emerging ecological issues in the Bay and active invasive plant management work to protect  Lake Tahoe’s most visited location,

4) The Tahoe Keys marina which was built over North America’s largest mountain wetland, and historically home to an important rearing area for native fishes,

5) Visit an Invasive Species Watercraft Inspection Station along Highway 50 to understand policy level implementation for controlling invasive species introductions into the basin (stop depends on time available).