Tahoe Truckee Region Water Digest

California has given the federal government its own counterproposal for apportioning reductions of Colorado River water, saying a plan offered by six other states would disproportionately burden farms and cities in Southern California.

The Truckee Donner Public Utility District recently received $1.2 million in disaster relief to help offset nearly $2 million in storm-related damage from the December 2021 storms.

Last year, the Truckee Donner Public Utility District took on a number of new projects to improve water and electric utility service, customer experience and community safety.

The Department of Water Resources conducted the first manual snow survey of the season at Phillips Station Jan. 3, recording 55.5 inches of snow depth and a snow water equivalent of 17.5 inches, which is 177% of average for the location.

“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 U.S.-French satellite that will map most of the world's water has rocketed into orbit. The predawn launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base capped a successful year for NASA. The satellite will conduct the first global survey of its kind.

Stanford scientists have genetically re-programmed plants to grow roots that change how they gather nutrients or water.

In the fall, rice fields in the Sacramento Valley usually shine golden brown as they await harvesting. This year, however, many fields were left covered with bare dirt.

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.

A dozen independent fish scientists are calling for urgent changes to sport fishing rules to save California’s largest freshwater fish after an unprecedented red tide this summer left hundreds of them dead.

For eight straight days this summer, farmers in far Northern California drained almost all of the water out of a river in defiance of the state’s drought regulations. The move infuriated environmentalists and salmon-dependent Native American tribes downstream.

Linda and Stewart Resnick have donated $50 million to UC Davis for an agricultural research center—the largest donation in the campus’s history—but the couple’s Wonderful Company is the state’s single biggest water user.

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.

As drought drives prices higher, families are facing water bills of more than $200 a month. With 1 in 10 households behind on water payments, calls are mounting for the state to step in and help.

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.

After nearly a dozen years with the South Yuba River Citizens League, including five years at its helm, Melinda Booth will step down as executive director following the 21st anniversary of the Wild & Scenic Film Festival in February 2023.

The growth and spread of algae is one reason blue lakes around the world can go green in the summer. Most algae in Lake Tahoe does not pose a health risk to people or animals. Keep Tahoe Blue offers tips on dealing harmful algal blooms.

The Tahoe Fund and EarthViews have created the first “street view” style map of all 72 miles of Lake Tahoe’s shoreline. This new, interactive map offers a 360-degree view of the shoreline, as well as underwater views and water quality data.

A beached vessel has been bobbing in the waters of Lake Tahoe since at least June 2021. Moonshine Ink reporters asked what the deal with the boat was, and also what gives with a giant hole in the earth near downtown Truckee.

The nonprofit group SaveTahoeBeaches.org wants to raise awareness of the growing problem of algae proliferation in Lake Tahoe, which causes foul odors and unkept beaches.

The American River Basin will see increasing temperatures and a declining snowpack through the end of the 21st century, according to a study released by the Bureau of Reclamation. Also, variability of fall and winter precipitation will amplify the severity of droughts and flooding.

Below the Blue, a nonprofit that works to remove debris from bodies of water, came on the scene in 2020. But its founders have a much longer history in Lake Tahoe.

It’s been 10 years since scuba divers Seth Jones and Monique Rydel-Fortner first spotted old, lead-coated AT&T cables in the depths of Lake Tahoe while diving in Emerald Bay. A settlement last fall called for their removal, but they’re still underwater.

The USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit is reaching out to both the general community and fellow agencies to seek input on the environmental review of the Meeks Bay Restoration Project. The goal is to return the area into a more natural state while still accommodating recreation.

California faces the prospect of a drought-fueled summer of power shortages, hydroelectric plant shutdowns and rising electricity costs, a new report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration warns.

The environment is currently favorable to begin a control methods test in the Tahoe Keys lagoons, with herbicide application beginning May 23. Boating, fishing and other water activities will be restricted during this testing process.

Project work to eradicate invasive plants has resumed at Taylor Creek and Tallac Creek marsh in South Lake Tahoe. The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency is removing vegetation to install underwater bottom barriers in the marshes adjacent to Baldwin and Kiva beaches.

Due to continued low water levels, the Sand Harbor boat ramp will remain closed for the summer. Beginning on May 27, the parking lot will be opened to provide limited parking for vehicles with kayaks and paddleboards.

In a Sierra Nevada forest torched by wildfire, researcher Anne Nolin and her colleague are studying another factor that might make the snow vanish faster: the scorched trees, which no longer provide much shade and are shedding flecks of carbon.

Monique Rydel-Fortner and Seth Jones have seen more of what lies underwater at Lake Tahoe than most. In cooperation with the League to Save Lake Tahoe and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, they are working to stop the illicit practice of using the lake as a construction site dumpster.

The snowpack at Philips Station in South Tahoe has plunged since a historic amount of snow fell in December. In a normal season, surveyors have seen snowpack depths of around 5 feet, but at the beginning of the month, just 2.5 inches of snow was measured.