Research PartnershipsLake Tahoe Science Program
Lake Tahoe Research
Reports
Lake Tahoe West: Science to Inform Resiliency in the Lake Tahoe Basin
A map of the project area for the Lake Tahoe West Restoration Partnership.
The Lake Tahoe West Restoration Partnership (Lake Tahoe West) is an interagency, multi-jurisdictional initiative that includes stakeholder participation and a science team. Its primary goal is to restore and maintain the resilience of the forests, watersheds, recreational opportunities, and communities on Lake Tahoe's western shore.
Resilience refers to managing the landscape in ways that enhance its capacity to withstand drought, climate change, wildfire, increased visitor use, bark beetles, and other stressors, without the loss of its ecological processes and its cultural, recreational, and economic values.
The role of science in Lake Tahoe West is to provide objective, impartial information that informs decision-making. The initiative's secondary goal is to develop an approach to landscape restoration that can be replicated in and customized to the north, east, and south shores of the Lake Tahoe Basin, and the Sierra Nevada generally.
The U.S. Forest Service's Pacific Southwest Research Station has taken the lead in building a collaborative science team that includes scientists from eight universities and three Forest Service research stations. The science team is addressing a broad array of resource values.
Tahoe Science Projects supported by the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act
The Tahoe Science Program was created through the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act (SNPLMA) to conduct science to inform efforts to restore Lake Tahoe and its watershed, as authorized in the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act. Beginning in 2006, the Pacific Southwest Research Station (PSW) assumed responsibility for sponsoring science projects beginning with Round 7.
The PSW Station established a competitive grant award program with a rigorous peer review process coordinated by the Tahoe Science Consortium, a collection of universities and agencies with active research programs at Lake Tahoe. The PSW program coordinator and the Tahoe Science Consortium worked each year with the resource management agencies in the Tahoe Basin to identify research priorities and solicit proposals.
Specific research areas varied from year to year within the eight science themes listed below. These eight priority research issues spanned the research needs identified and prioritized by management agencies in the Tahoe Basin.
In 2016, the Tahoe Science Consortium Science Synthesis Report was presented to SNPLMA sponsors (U.S. Congress and federal agency partners), the science community, and the general public. The report offers an overview of the key findings from the research projects supported by the SNPLMA Science Program and illustrates their relevance to management actions in the Lake Tahoe Basin. The Science Synthesis Report distills hundreds of research projects, publications and reports from this program into succinct findings that provide relevant knowledge for resource managers in the basin.
Projects by round:
[or browse all projects]
Round 12:
Round 11:
Round 10:
Round 9:
Round 8:
Round 7:
Round 5 and 6:
Priority Research Issues and projects designed to address them
Air Quality Air pollutants pose threats to health of humans and forests at Lake Tahoe, as well as to the clarity of the lake itself. This research evaluates these impacts to develop appropriate treatments.
Climate Change A look toward new and expanding tools to inform policymakers about how future climate change will specifically affect the Lake Tahoe basin and provide information that can lead to proactive policy alternatives.
Forest Fuels and Vegetation Management Forest treatments, including prescribed burning, help to reduce wildfire hazards. Research evaluates how both treatments and wildfires can affect values such as air quality, water quality, and wildlife habitat.
Habitat Improvement Research is helping to better understand the special management needs of species and ecological communities that are particularly rare or vulnerable in the Tahoe basin.
Lake Quality The desire to "Keep Tahoe Blue" is important in the Tahoe basin, with efforts toward reversing the long-term decline in open-water clarity. Lake quality is also threatened by the spread of attached algae (periphyton) and non-native organisms.
Stormwater Management Fine sediments, nutrients, and other pollutants, particularly from urban areas and roads, pose major threats to the clarity of Lake Tahoe. Research is helping to design best management practices (BMPs) to prevent these pollutants from entering downstream waterways.
Stream Restoration Research is helping to design projects to restore stream geomorphic and ecological functions, including retention of fine sediments and enhancement of habitat for plants and animals.
Science Integration The Tahoe Science Consortium has conducted workshops and provided technical assistance to apply current research to challenges facing management agencies within the Tahoe Basin.
Science Themes
The Tahoe Science Consortium convened a panel of scientists along with representatives of management agencies who collaboratively generated annual lists of science themes based on research priorities.
