A new report says local governments and state highway departments are meeting targets to reduce urban stormwater pollution and help protect Lake Tahoe’s water clarity.
The Total Maximum Daily Load Program’s 2019 Performance Report is compiled each year by the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection and the California Regional Water Board.
Launched in 2011, the program is a science-based plan to restore Lake Tahoe’s water clarity back to its historic level of 97.4 feet by 2076.
The program requires local governments and highway departments at Lake Tahoe to meet regular targets to reduce clarity-harming pollutants that wash into the lake.
Twenty years ago, Lake Tahoe was losing a foot of clarity per year. In 2019, as a result of the Tahoe Basin partnership’s efforts, winter clarity is improving by a half-foot a year.