In 2024, we took great strides for Tahoe, and we are looking ahead to even more progress to Keep Tahoe Blue next year, thanks to your support.
Our policy team's planning is underway to achieve our advocacy objectives for 2025 and Keep Tahoe Blue for all. A top priority is ensuring we work closely with the incoming presidential administration, recently elected members of Congress, and new staff at key federal agencies – just as we’ve done with more than a dozen administrations since our founding in 1957.
All our work for the Lake depends on donors like you – people who believe Tahoe must be lead-free, traffic-free, and trash-free for everyone to enjoy. This holiday season, your tax-deductible gift is critical to protecting the Lake we all cherish. Please give today to help us continue our Lake-saving mission. |
|
|
Critical Habitat Acquired for Restoration |
For decades, the League has worked to put 31 acres of environmentally sensitive land along the Upper Truckee River in South Lake Tahoe into public hands, so it can be restored as one of the Lake’s largest natural pollution filters. We vocally supported this important property purchase, ensured it remained a priority by shaping the Regional Plan, and provided funding for the future restoration. In March, the California Tahoe Conservancy acquired the former Motel 6 property with support from the League, the Tahoe Fund, and other organizations. Once the current buildings are removed and the habitat is restored, the property will reconnect more than 750 acres of marsh and meadow habitat, prevent sediment and polluted runoff from reaching the Lake, and help Keep Tahoe Blue.
|
$300 Million in Federal Funding Reauthorized |
In October, Congress passed legislation to extend authorization of the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act for another decade, ensuring Environmental Improvement Program projects that Keep Tahoe Blue will continue through 2034. By voting this bill into law, approximately $300 million in federal funds remain available for wildfire prevention, invasive species control, and restoration projects that protect the Lake we all love. This win in Washington, D.C. is the result of years of advocacy by the League, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, and the full lineup of partners in Team Tahoe.
|
|
More Marsh, River and Recreation |
To bring the restoration vision for the 31-acre Upper Truckee Marsh South property to life, we first need a roadmap. Our team of policy, science, and natural resource experts will work closely with our agency and nonprofit partners to create a plan for bringing back the important riparian and marsh ecosystem, complete with ample opportunities for public recreation, after the old buildings and parking lot have been removed. We will also support restoration of the adjacent property in Johnson Meadow, creating a restoration landscape that will Keep Tahoe Blue for generations to come.
|
Sending Federal Funds to Tahoe |
Reauthorizing the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act in 2024 was an important step in bringing federal funds to the Basin to pay for environmental projects. It’s part of a three-step process: (re)Authorize, Prioritize, Appropriate. After those funds were re-authorized last October, our team helped lead the effort to prioritize how they should be spent so they do the most good for Tahoe. With that priority list in hand, next year our efforts will shift back to advocating for those authorized (or approved) funds to be appropriated (or disbursed). We look forward to working with Tahoe’s champions in Washington, D.C. to advance the funding bills that will send money to public agencies carrying out the priority projects.
|
|
|
Lead-Sheathed Cables Removed from Lake Tahoe |
Eight miles of long unused, lead-sheathed telecommunications cables were removed from below Tahoe’s waters this fall. The League is proud to have served as environmental watchdog, facilitator, coordinator, and partner to AT&T in the removal process that took the defunct infrastructure out of the Lake. This conservation achievement highlights what is possible when the community unites around a common goal – and that some of the League’s most important work to Keep Tahoe Blue happens behind the scenes.
|
Beach Management Pilot Project Shows Early Success |
This summer, the League launched Tahoe Blue Beaches, a holistic beach management program designed to eliminate pollution and the impacts of lakeside recreation. The program, which advances the goals of the Tahoe Destination Stewardship Plan, debuted at Zephyr Cove and Shoals in coordination with the site’s public land manager, USDA Forest Service, and its concessionaire, Aramark Destinations. Through a combination of education, engineering, and enforcement, the new management program led to a 97% decrease in litter collected at Zephyr on July 5, 2024 compared to July 5, 2023.
|
|
Protecting Tahoe from Development Impacts |
After a decade of working for a solution, the League joined Sierra Watch in taking legal action against the recently approved Village at Palisades Tahoe expansion project. The massive development would be located just four miles west of the Basin’s boundary, yet it would impact Tahoe with additional traffic, air and water pollution that are not adequately acknowledged or mitigated in the approved plan. We get closely engaged with development proposals to ensure they don’t negatively impact Tahoe’s environment, whether they are located in the Basin or outside of it.
|
Expanding Tahoe Blue Beaches |
The program’s success in 2024 demonstrated its pollution-fighting potential and built momentum for our team to spread it to additional beaches in 2025. Our goal is to enlist new partners, both public and private, in the Blue Beaches program and have it in action on all four of Tahoe’s shores by next summer. As the program grows, there will be more places where making the right choice for responsible recreation is the easy choice.
|
|
| Eyes on the Lake Unites Invasive Species Prevention Efforts |
Preventing aquatic invaders from spreading in Tahoe is a group effort. In 2024, the League’s Eyes on the Lake aquatic invasive species (AIS) identification and reporting program helped bring those efforts together. By joining forces for public outreach, more members of the public were educated about AIS, and more businesses were outfitted with information for their customers. League staff trained every public marina in Tahoe on identifying these aquatic invaders to stop the spread of invasive species.
|
Tahoe Keys Control Methods Test Completed |
The Tahoe Keys Control Methods Test (CMT)—a comprehensive, science-based program to evaluate the full set of tools to control the Lake’s largest infestation of aquatic weeds—wrapped up its third and final year of testing this fall with innovative treatments like UV light and diver-assisted suction harvesting. This important milestone comes after nearly a decade of leadership, funding, and coalition-building efforts by the League. Coordinated action from the Tahoe Keys Property Owners Association, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, and others made it possible.
|
|
In 2023, a new invasive species was detected in Lake Tahoe. The discovery of the New Zealand mudsnail threw light on a vulnerability in Lake Tahoe’s robust aquatic invasive species (AIS) prevention efforts: non-motorized watercraft and fishing gear. In 2025, our team will continue to focus on educating and activating paddlers and anglers to clean, drain and dry their gear to avoid any new AIS introductions in the Lake. The addition of several new mobile watercraft cleaning machines, CD3s, will bolster the push.
|
"Maintain and Contain" in the Tahoe Keys |
While nearly half of a million data points collected during the CMT are analyzed for use in long-term planning, the League is focused on working with the project partners to maintain progress in weed reduction from the CMT and contain the infestation in the Keys lagoons by deploying League-piloted technology. Keeping the infestation from spreading further into Lake Tahoe will prevent Tahoe’s blue waters from turning a murky green.
|
|
|
Closing the Chapter on 2024,
Writing the Story of 2025 |
|
|
Photo Credit: Nick McMahon |
|
|
As 2024 draws to a close, we're grateful for everything we've achieved together this year. From removing underwater cables to advocating for the federal support Tahoe deserves, your generosity made these milestones possible.
We've achieved much in 2024, but Tahoe’s challenges don’t stop with the calendar year. Threats to the Lake continue, and we must act now to meet them head on. Every dollar raised in December goes directly to the effort to Keep Tahoe Blue. With your support, we can ensure Tahoe is protected for generations to come. We need your help to hit our goal of raising $750,000 by December 31. These funds will prepare us to tackle the urgent and unpredictable challenges that 2025 will bring. |
Interested in making a gift of stock, through a donor advised fund, or in honor/memory of a loved one? |
Can we count on you to be part of the solution? |
|
|
|
