El Dorado County Environment Digest

“The Lake of the Sky” is grabbing attention this winter for more than one reason. Emerald Bay froze completely, including the inlet, for the first time in many years.

What does flipping mean? It means Lake Tahoe’s waters fully mixed vertically from top to bottom. While this is an annual event in shallower lakes, with Tahoe’s 1,640-foot depth, it’s a less common occurrence.

Lake Tahoe is in the midst of one of its snowiest seasons ever. A multi-day blizzard dropped more than 10 feet, and another storm has entered the region.

A $4.4 billion project on the Sacramento River to add dams and store more water that will be sent south, the Sites Reservoir is still years away from completion. The final environmental report is expected this year.

A new Stanford-led study shows that about a fifth of all Sierra Nevada conifer forests are a “mismatch” for their regions’ warming weather. These “zombie forests” are likely to be replaced other tree species after one of California’s increasingly frequent catastrophic wildfires.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to list the California spotted owl population in the Sierra Nevada as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

A report from the U.S. Forest Service reveals about 36.3 million trees across 2.6 million acres of federal, state and private land died in California in 2022. Tree mortality was found on 91,000 acres in the Eldorado National Forest.

Tahoe Tessie isn’t real but climate change is. That’s the tagline for “Find Tahoe Tessie,” an augmented reality game app developed by UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center.

A report from the USDA Forest Service reveals about 36.3 million trees across 2.6 million acres of federal, state and private land died in California in 2022.

Some impacts of fires are well known, and now a new study shows how wildfires combined with midwinter drought conditions accelerate snowmelt

New research shows feeding mountain chickadees has no negative impact on the species as long as a few simple rules are followed.

The species, which once inhabited the upper elevations of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade ranges, has been detected near Taboose Pass, on the eastern...

The Sierra Nevada red fox, which historically inhabited the upper elevations of the Sierra Nevada and Cascades in California and Oregon, has been detected near the eastern boundary of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park.

Climate change models indicate that California’s Central Valley will experience conditions that could threaten the reproductive success of songbirds, according to a study from UC Davis.

Eight of the top 10 warmest years on record occurred in the last decade. The snowline where rain turns to powder continues to move uphill.

“Urban development, increasing tourism, and climate related disturbances are all growing challenges for Lake Tahoe’s water quality,” says US Environmental Protection Agency press officer Joshua Alexander.

A conservation effort to acquire lands in the Cosumnes River watershed area received $1 million from state agency the Sierra Nevada Conservancy. The $1 million will go toward a fundraising effort by American River Conservancy.

The Sierra Nevada Conservancy Governing Board authorized $10 million in Watershed Improvement Program grants for conservation projects; $1 million will be used to acquire 1,000 acres on the Cosumnes River in El Dorado County.

This fall almost two months of work went into restoring the degraded Calf Pasture Meadow on the back side of Desolation Wilderness, impacted by decades of cattle grazing, road construction and logging.

Californians are accustomed to being battered by many of nature's whims. Less familiar are volcanic eruptions like the one currently taking place at Hawaii's Mauna Loa. But California's own volcanoes are capable of violent fury.

A project started at Lake Tahoe to differentiate snow from rain near the freezing point has grown and has received funding from NASA for three more years.

The South Yuba River Citizens League previews the 21st Wild and Scenic Film Festival on February 16-20, 2023, with a theme of “CommUNITY.” Next year marks the 40th anniversary of SYRCL, formed in 1983 to save the Yuba River watershed.

Drought, human-caused climate change, invasive species and a “legacy” of environmental issues are permanently altering California’s landscape and placing some communities and ecosystems at increasing risk.

The nonprofit Tahoe Fund announced that five new members—Invited for their leadership in the corporate and nonprofit sectors—have joined its board.

Attorney General Rob Bonta sues manufacturers of PFAs, nicknamed “forever chemicals” because they never biodegrade. Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl are present in the bloodstream of nearly all Californians, and are present in a number of household objects; they’ve been linked to birth defects and numerous cancers.

On Election Day, a tornado with wind gusts of up to 70 mph touched down in a rural area of Sacramento County near Galt. The Bee looks at how common tornadoes are in California, what causes them and how dangerous they can be.

PG& E has formally asked the state to postpone closure of Diablo Canyon until 2030; California’s last nuclear plant provides 9 percent of the state’s electricity.

As Lake Tahoe watercraft inspections shift to winter operations, inspectors have reported far fewer vessels with aquatic invasive species onboard.

Wildfires, drought, extreme heat and other effects of climate change are compounding in California, according to a report from state scientists.

2020 carbon emissions fell because of the COVID-19 pandemic–but now emissions are on the rise again.

Scientists at the University of Nevada, Reno, are using a variety of new technologies with massive amounts of data and computational power to model and map fire-vulnerable forest vegetation across millions of acres in California.

2022 State of the Birds Report shows decline in more than half of the bird population, with grassland bird species shrinking the fastest. On the bright side, waterfowl are thriving in the nation’s wetlands.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a warm, dry winter is in store for much of California as La Niña conditions are expected to persist through at least January.