World renowned for its crystal clear, azure water, Lake Tahoe
straddles the Nevada-California border. However, the lake’s
clarity has declined in the last 40 years due to accumulated
effects of development.
At 1,645 feet, Lake Tahoe is the second deepest lake in the
United States and the 10th deepest in the world. Lake Tahoe sits
6,225 feet above sea level, and is 22 miles long and 12 miles
wide.
Approximately 40 percent of the Tahoe Basin’s rain and snow fall
directly into the lake, contributing to Lake Tahoe’s legendary
clarity. The remaining precipitation drains through granitic
soils, which are relatively sterile and create a good filtering
system.
The lake’s vitality is threatened by several factors
including invasive species (trout and bass), stormwater
runoff and increasing temperatures as a part of ongoing climate
change. Meanwhile, drought conditions have led the lake to be the
driest it has been in a century.
The Tahoe Institute for Global Sustainability through the
University of Nevada, Reno’s Lake Tahoe Campus is gaining
momentum after its launch in early June. … In its Tahoe
focused research, a number of institute scientists are
furthering insight on clarity, wildfire effects on landscape,
stream ecology and its connection to the lake’s nearshore
areas. The institute has also developed the Tahoe Environmental
Observatory Network, which offers an information and
interactive story-map explaining intricacies of the basins’
watershed, streams and lake. It will eventually offer real time
and publicly available data from sensors placed around Lake
Tahoe.
Quick actions by boaters and paddlers this year helped prevent
the dangerous golden mussel and other aquatic invasive species
from entering the Lake Tahoe watershed, according to agencies
leading the Lake Tahoe Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) program.
The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) and Tahoe Resource
Conservation District (Tahoe RCD), which manage the watercraft
inspection program, reported that inspectors performed more
than 4,700 decontaminations in 2025, a 60 percent increase
compared to the previous year.
… The [California Fish and Game] Commission adopted
regulations adding invasive non-native mussels, including
golden mussel, pond mussel and axe-head
mussel, and green crab to the list of live animals
restricted from importation, transportation and possession. As
part of an emergency regulation, golden mussel was added to the
list of restricted species in December 2024 after the discovery
of golden mussel in California in October 2024. Golden mussel
was first detected in the Port of Stockton and have since
spread from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River
Delta into other California waterways that receive
water from the Delta.
Each fall, one of Lake Tahoe’s most unique wildlife spectacles
comes alive at Taylor Creek. The Kokanee salmon are preparing
to begin their upstream journey, turning the waters of this
South Lake Tahoe stream into a vibrant scene of red and silver.
While the native Lahontan cutthroat trout spawn in the spring,
the Kokanee—a landlocked cousin of the Sockeye salmon—take
center stage in October and November. Their timing depends on
environmental factors like colder water and higher stream
flows, which are managed in part by the Fallen Leaf Lake Dam.
Without these carefully balanced flows, Taylor Creek could run
too low or even dry up in the fall.
Officials at Pyramid Lake say starting Oct. 1, watercraft
inspections will become mandatory for any craft using the lake.
The new regulation was approved by the Pyramid Lake Paiute
Tribal Council to strengthen protections against the invasive
mussels already seen in the Lake Tahoe area. The council says
the adaptability of the Golden Mussels makes them a serious
threat to the lake and its surrounding bodies of water.
Starting Oct. 1, all motorized and/or trailered watercraft must
be inspected prior to launch at the lake.
The California Tahoe Conservancy held a board meeting on
Thursday, Sept. 18, at Lake Tahoe Community College, but not
before a tour around two project sites. … The board’s first
stop at the Upper Truckee River Restoration demonstrated prior
efforts, which removed fill from wetlands, constructed a storm
water basin to improve water quality, and built new trails to
the river at the Elks Club site. … Restoring the Upper
Truckee River Watershed is a significant focus for the
conservancy due to its significance as the largest and most
environmentally consequential watershed draining to Lake Tahoe.
On Wednesday, the Tahoe City Public Utility District celebrated
the Grand Opening of the West Lake Tahoe Regional Water
Treatment Plant. … The plant can currently deliver one
million gallons of water per day and may be further expanded to
reach more customers from Tahoma to Timberland. The utility
district stated that the approximately $30 million project was
made possible by grant funding as well as a loan from the CA
State Water Resources Control Board.
Keep Tahoe Blue, The Tyre Collective, and Desert Research
Institute (DRI) announced a groundbreaking collaboration with
the Emerald Bay Shuttle and its operator, Downtowner, that
brings together science, technology, and alternative
transportation to protect Lake Tahoe’s world-renowned water
clarity. … The pilot program employs The Tyre
Collective’s proprietary technology — discrete, compact devices
affixed to a vehicle’s undercarriage — to capture harmful tire
wear particles directly at the wheel.
On average, more than 60 percent of
California’s developed water supply originates in the Sierra
Nevada and the southern spur of the Cascade Range. Our water
supply is largely dependent on the health of our Sierra forests,
which are suffering from ecosystem degradation, drought,
wildfires and widespread tree mortality.
This tour ventured into the Sierra to examine water issues
that happen upstream but have dramatic impacts downstream and
throughout the state.
Sixty percent of California’s developed water supply
originates high in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Our water
supply is largely dependent on the health of our Sierra forests,
which are suffering from ecosystem degradation, drought,
wildfires and widespread tree mortality.
We headed into the foothills and the mountains to examine
water issues that happen upstream but have dramatic impacts
downstream and throughout the state.
GEI (Tour Starting Point)
2868 Prospect Park Dr.
Rancho Cordova, CA 95670.
Lake
Tahoe, the iconic high Sierra water body that straddles
California and Nevada, has sat for more than 10,000 years at the
heart of the Washoe tribe’s territory. In fact, the name Tahoe
came from the tribal word dá’aw, meaning lake.
The lake’s English name was the source of debate for about 100
years after it was first “discovered” in 1844 by people of
European descent when Gen. John C. Fremont’s expedition made its
way into the region. Not long after, a man who carried mail on
snowshoes from Placerville to Nevada City named it Lake Bigler in
honor of John Bigler, who served as California’s third governor.
But because Bigler was an ardent secessionist, the federal
Interior Department during the Civil War introduced the name
Tahoe in 1862. Meanwhile, California kept it as Lake Bigler and
didn’t officially recognize the name as Lake Tahoe until 1945.
Sixty percent of California’s developed water supply
originates high in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Our water
supply is largely dependent on the health of our Sierra forests,
which are suffering from ecosystem degradation, drought,
wildfires and widespread tree mortality.
This 25-minute documentary-style DVD, developed in partnership
with the California Department of Water Resources, provides an
excellent overview of climate change and how it is already
affecting California. The DVD also explains what scientists
anticipate in the future related to sea level rise and
precipitation/runoff changes and explores the efforts that are
underway to plan and adapt to climate.
30-minute DVD that traces the history of the U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation and its role in the development of the West. Includes
extensive historic footage of farming and the construction of
dams and other water projects, and discusses historic and modern
day issues.
This beautiful 24×36-inch poster, suitable for framing, displays
the rivers, lakes and reservoirs, irrigated farmland, urban areas
and Indian reservations within the Truckee River Basin, including
the Newlands Project, Pyramid Lake and Lake Tahoe. Map text
explains the issues surrounding the use of the Truckee-Carson
rivers, Lake Tahoe water quality improvement efforts, fishery
restoration and the effort to reach compromise solutions to many
of these issues.
This 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, illustrates the
water resources available for Nevada cities, agriculture and the
environment. It features natural and manmade water resources
throughout the state, including the Truckee and Carson rivers,
Lake Tahoe, Pyramid Lake and the course of the Colorado River
that forms the state’s eastern boundary.
The 28-page Layperson’s Guide to Nevada Water provides an
overview of the history of water development and use in Nevada.
It includes sections on Nevada’s water rights laws, the history
of the Truckee and Carson rivers, water supplies for the Las
Vegas area, groundwater, water quality, environmental issues and
today’s water supply challenges.
A new look for our most popular product! And it’s the perfect
gift for the water wonk in your life.
Our 24×36-inch California Water Map is widely known for being the
definitive poster that shows the integral role water plays in the
state. On this updated version, it is easier to see California’s
natural waterways and man-made reservoirs and aqueducts
– including federally, state and locally funded
projects – the wild and scenic rivers system, and
natural lakes. The map features beautiful photos of
California’s natural environment, rivers, water projects,
wildlife, and urban and agricultural uses and the
text focuses on key issues: water supply, water use, water
projects, the Delta, wild and scenic rivers and the Colorado
River.
Lake Tahoe is one of the world’s most beautiful yet vulnerable
lakes. Renowned for its remarkable clarity, Tahoe straddles the
Nevada-California border, stretching 22 miles long and 12 miles
wide in a granitic bowl high in the Sierra Nevada.
Tahoe sits 6,225 feet above sea level. Its deepest point is 1,645
feet, making it the second-deepest lake in the nation, after
Oregon’s Crater Lake, and the tenth deepest in the world.
Lake Tahoe is one of the Sierra Nevada’s crown jewels, renowned
for its breathtaking clarity. The high-altitude, clear blue lake
and its surrounding basin, which lie on the California-Nevada
state line, is a spectacular natural resource that provides
environmental, economic, recreational and aesthetic benefits.
