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Keep Tahoe Blue Advocacy Updates
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As the voice for Lake Tahoe, we advocate for strong environmental protections backed by science and community values to Keep Tahoe Blue. We're excited to share the latest updates on project and policy changes that impact Lake Tahoe. Together, we can Keep Tahoe Blue, now and for future generations.
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Shoreline Plan implementation
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What is it?
The Shoreline Plan provides guidance around construction of structures for boating access—such as boat ramps, piers, buoys, marinas, boat lifts, boat houses and slips—as well as policies related to non-motorized boating on Lake Tahoe and the management of aquatic invasive species.
Where is it in the process?
The League to Save Lake Tahoe joined the Shoreline Steering Committee in 2016 and actively participated in over 50 meetings to get a strong, publicly supported plan in place. On October 24, 2018 that happened when an official plan was approved. The plan will enhance recreation experiences around the Lake while also protecting the environment and planning responsibly for our future. For instance, the plan seeks to minimize user conflict on the Lake with 600-foot no-wake zones along all of Tahoe’s shores and a 200-foot buffer encircling every non-motorized user.
What is the League’s position?
WORK IN PROGRESS
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Rendering of the new Fanny Bridge
. Courtesy of Tahoe Transportation District.
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What is it?
A $35.5 million project to create a bypass around Tahoe City to the West Shore with the goal of alleviating traffic congestion and enhancing a walkable business district. When completed, the project will include three roundabouts and will replace the historic Fanny Bridge in Tahoe City with a new bridge consisting of improved sidewalks and bike lanes. The Tahoe Transportation District, in cooperation with federal highway officials, are moving ahead with construction of the project.
Where is it in the process?
The project got underway in 2017. Construction is on hold for the winter and is set to resume in the summer. The project is slated to be finished in 2020.
What is the League’s position?
SUPPORT
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The League was instrumental in ensuring the project and its vision was translated effectively into policy for the Placer County Area Plan. We support the project's goal to make the Fanny Bridge area more bike and pedestrian friendly.
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Environmental threshold update
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What is it?
Part of legislation that governs the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) requires protection of the environment. That protection is quantified and measured with over 170 environmental standards or “thresholds.” For instance, a threshold might set a cap on the amount of allowable carbon dioxide pollution in the air or the amount and duration of noise by the Lake. TRPA is currently working with the Tahoe Science Advisory Council to update and improve these nearly forty year old thresholds so they are more reflective of current conditions and can more easily be monitored.
Where is it in the process?
A working group has already met five times and is currently focused on removing redundancies, eliminating conflicting thresholds and replacing old policy statement thresholds with measurable standards. The working group will also help update how these thresholds are monitored to inform the four year Threshold Evaluation report mandated to TRPA. The process of updating all thresholds will take many years to complete and will remain an adaptive process.
What is the League’s position?
WORK IN PROGRESS
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The League participates in the stakeholder working group and is supportive of efforts to maintain and strengthen environmental protections while also making them simpler to understand and monitor
.
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Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMTs) modeling
and standards
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What is it?
Vehicle Miles Traveled or VMTs are one of the over 170 environmental threshold standards. VMTs are used by transportation planners and states like California to measure many aspects of vehicle impacts on the environment and community including traffic congestion and air quality. For instance, in Tahoe the current goal is to reduce and maintain VMTs under a baseline set in 1980. Failure to do so results in serious consequences. If Tahoe exceeds the threshold standard then no new development is allowed, including environmentally beneficial redevelopment projects. That means no building permits for residential, commercial or hotel rooms until Tahoe is able to bring VMTs under the threshold. Each year as Tahoe’s popularity grows, we inch closer and closer to crossing the threshold. For this reason it is essential that measuring of current VMT as well as modeling future VMT forecasts are as accurate as possible and use the most sophisticated and accurate models.
Where is it in the process?
The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) is updating Tahoe’s transportation model and will run it in summer of 2019 to identify a baseline for the next four years. Additionally, a multi-year plan to update the model using new science is being developed. This model is important because it will determine how close Tahoe is to the VMTs threshold but also inform transportation plan updates and proposed new development projects.
What is the League’s position?
WORK IN PROGRESS
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This is one of the League’s top priorities and is participating in a working group to make sure the transportation model for the Lake Tahoe Basin is accurate and utilizing best available data. An inaccurate model would render the VMTs threshold meaningless as well as the intended environmental protections.
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Photo courtesy of Nevada Dot.
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Incline-to-Sand Harbor bike path update
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What is it?
The Nevada Department of Transportation is constructing a shared-use path to connect Incline Village to Sand Harbor State Park in Nevada. The three-mile path will provide a means for people to visit one of Lake Tahoe's most scenic destinations without a car. The plan also includes construction of paid highway parking lots that would raise money for trail maintenance. During construction, NDOT will also install infrastructure to reduce stormwater pollution dumping into Lake Tahoe from Highway 28.
Where is it in the process?
Construction for the project is nearly done. NDOT anticipates completion of its work in 2019. This bike path is part of a larger plan to encircle the entire lake with paved bike trails. Progress is being made on that front with design/environmental analysis underway on the 8-mile stretch of trail between Sand Harbor and Spooner Summit, Baldwin Beach to Meeks Bay through the State Route 89 Corridor Plan, and with The Tahoe Transportation District applying for funds for a trail linking Round Hill Pines to Zephyr Cove.
What is the League’s position?
SUPPORT
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Providing people with more safe and convenient routes to walk or ride bicycles makes it easier to reduce pollution associated with auto traffic. Fine sediment pollution from Tahoe’s roads and exacerbated by constant car travel is the leading cause for lake Tahoe’s clarity loss.
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Upper Truckee Marsh Restoration
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What is it?
The Upper Truckee Marsh, located where the Upper Truckee River enters Lake Tahoe on the south shore, was once part of the largest wetland marsh in the entire Sierra Nevada. Construction of the Tahoe Keys and Lake Tahoe Airport in the 1950s and 60s destroyed half of the marsh, which had acted as Lake Tahoe’s largest natural pollution filter. State and federal agencies are set to begin the largest restoration effort in Lake Tahoe, restoring the remaining marsh so it can once again protect Lake Tahoe from upland pollution while providing improved habitat for wildlife and better recreation for the community.
Where is it in the process?
Work on the project will begin this year and take three to four years to complete. In total, 1,000 acres will be restored. In April, the Tahoe Resource Conservation District acquired a 206-acre parcel of Johnson Meadow, a critical stretch of wetland. In June, California voters passed Proposition 68 (supported by the League) and designated $3.2 million to this project. As part of the preparation, volunteers with the League’s Eyes on the Lake program have surveyed the Upper Truckee River from Lake Tahoe 8-miles upstream to map infestations of aquatic invasive plants so land managers can prevent them from spreading into the rest of the marsh during the restoration. League volunteers have verified the stretch of river above Highway 50 in South Lake Tahoe as “weed-free” and provided data on the infestation below Highway 50 to agency staff working to restore the marsh.
What is the League’s position?
SUPPORT
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The League strongly supports the restoration of the Upper Truckee Marsh. Because it will restore the ecological functions of the vast wetland area, the project will provide pollution filtration for the largest tributary into Lake Tahoe. The project has the potential to be Tahoe’s most beneficial restoration project to date.
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Rendering c
ourtesy of Tahoe Transportation District.
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US 50/South Shore Community Revitalization Project
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What is it?
The Tahoe Transportation District is proposing a realignment of Highway 50 on the South Shore by the casino corridor, with corresponding changes to the original highway alignment to improve infrastructure for people walking and biking. This project is also known locally as the “Loop Road.” There have been various versions of the plan for a highway to bypass the casinos since the 1970s.
Where is it in the process?
The project was approved by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) and Tahoe Transportation District (TTD) in late 2018. The League reviewed final environmental documents and many of our comments were incorporated in the final plan. The final plan aims to transform Highway 50 by Heavenly Village and Stateline, NV into a walkable main street. On March 5th,
South Lake Tahoe City Counci
l
will receive an update on the current status of the project. The public is encouraged to attend,
details here
.
What is the League’s position?
WORK IN PROGRESS
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The League is advocating for a project that will benefit Lake Tahoe. The League is pushing for the project to include a transit pilot program and a parking management strategy to ensure minimal need for paved surfaces, while reducing car trips. The League will join the stakeholder committee of the Main Street Management Plan this month to ensure the walkable core carries through to the final design.
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Get our most popular tee!
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Support our efforts the classic way! Our comfy Keep Tahoe Blue logo tee is a tri-blend of fabrics made in the U.S.A. Stop by our
Education Center and Store
to learn more about our programs and grab a tee today or
visit us online
. All proceeds benefit efforts to protect Lake Tahoe, now and for future generation.
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