LAKE TAHOE, Nev./Calif., July 30, 2024 — Today, the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center and Tahoe Regional Planning Agency released findings from the annual Lake Tahoe Clarity Report, which showed average clarity—or how deep a 10” white disk can be lowered into Lake Tahoe before it becomes invisible from the surface—dropped to 68.2 feet in 2023 from its 2022 value of 71.9 feet.
After decades of steady water clarity loss in the latter half of the 20th century, organized efforts by the League and others helped stop the decline and stabilize Lake Tahoe’s world-famous water clarity through the establishment and implementation of the Lake Tahoe Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL). Since 2000, multi-year average clarity measurements, which are more telling of Lake health than annual averages, have remained relatively stable.
Below the headlines, the report highlights several priorities for scientific research, including Tahoe’s changing physical and ecological conditions, as well as the smaller particles that are impacting Tahoe’s clarity. Zooplankton, phytoplankton, and microplastics also need further study to understand the role they play in the Lake.
The following is a statement regarding the 2023 Lake Tahoe Clarity Report from League to Save Lake Tahoe CEO Dr. Darcie Goodman Collins:
“A good way to interpret the most recent Lake Tahoe water clarity figures is ‘business as usual.’ Small fluctuations in Lake Tahoe’s annual average clarity—one or two feet up or down—are normal. The longer-term, multi-year data trends are more telling of the Lake’s health.
Two trends are highlighted in the report, which demand more study: winter water clarity is improving, while summer clarity is declining. In the summer, the impacts of a warming climate create the right conditions for aquatic invasive species and algae to grow, and they drive more visitors to Tahoe escaping the heat at lower elevations.
Though winter clarity gains are welcome news, it’s extremely important for everyone to make lake-friendly transportation decisions when in Tahoe, like riding Lake Link and TART Connect. These alternative transportation services keep cars off the roads, preventing tailpipe emissions, road erosion, and runoff from polluting the Lake.
Most importantly, the report sends a clear message that we need to double-down on investments in science as well as lake-saving initiatives, including improvements in alternative transportation and litter prevention, as well as restoration of Tahoe’s marshes, meadows, and wetlands which are the Lake’s natural pollution filters. When these ecosystems function as they should, the Lake can be resilient to the impacts of climate change. These initiatives are the League to Save Lake Tahoe’s priorities because they help Keep Tahoe Blue.
There are things everyone should do, like planning to use alternative transportation in Tahoe, refusing to buy or bring single-use plastics that often end up as trash in our environment, and volunteering at restoration events like Tahoe Forest Stewardship Days.
Clarity matters because the water is our biggest clue about how the Lake is doing. If we lose the clear water of Tahoe, we lose everything we love about it. So, let’s all do our part to Keep Tahoe Blue.”
Media Contacts:
Chris Joseph, Communications Director, League to Save Lake Tahoe
cjoseph@keeptahoeblue.org, 530.541.5388 ext.206
The League to Save Lake Tahoe is the donor-funded, science-based organization of environmental experts and Tahoe-lovers behind Keep Tahoe Blue. We have led the protection and regeneration of the Lake since 1957 and remain the central environmental body in the Basin. The Tahoe Basin sits at the nexus of two states, five counties, and dozens of agencies and nonprofits. We are the one organization making sure everyone works together towards the same goal – to Keep Tahoe Blue. Our work is made possible through the generosity of our donors and volunteers. Learn more at keeptahoeblue.org.