Pacific Southwest Research Station

Stormwater Management

Stormwater carries fine sediments, nutrients, and other pollutants from urban areas and roads threaten the clarity of Lake Tahoe. Research projects are examining how Best Management Practices (BMPs) can avoid generating pollutants in the first place and how to effectively trap them before they enter the lake.

Research Projects

Projects are providing a more detailed understanding of the specific sources of fine sediments, evaluating the impacts of road management practices on pollutant loads, and assessing the effectiveness of BMPs in reducing pollutants.

• Estimates of Surface and Mass Erosion Following the 2016 Emerald Wildfire
• Quantifying the potential for a low-cost, distributed stormwater detention system using LiDAR and remotely-sensed data
• Quantifying the potential for a low-cost, distributed stormwater detention system using LiDAR and remotely-sensed data
• Aligning stormwater quality datasets with priority management objectives
• Tools to quantify urban stormwater load reduction from SEZ restoration actions
• Evaluation of alternative abrasives and snow plowing practices and road sweeping/vacuuming as source control BMPs for load reduction of fine sediment particles and phosphorus in urban roadway stormwater
• Quantifying the benefits of urban stormwater management
• Defensible Space-Erosion Protection Tools Development
• Tahoe Stormwater Particle Assessment and Management for Urban and Roadway Runoff
• Development and Validation of the Tahoe Project Sediment Model
• Measuring the ability of floodplains to treat urban runoff in the Lake Tahoe basin
• Development of a road cut and fill land use category for the Pollutant Load Reduction Model (PLRM)
• Priority urban stormwater monitoring to directly inform the Pollutant Load Reduction Model (PLRM)
• Urban stormwater fine sediment filtration using granular perlite
• The effects of climate change on Lake Tahoe, and implications for design of best management practices
• Determining sources of highway runoff fine sediment in stormwater, streams, and Lake Tahoe using fingerprinting techniques
• Potential of engineered flood plains and wetlands as fine-particle BMPs: case study of Trout Creek and the Upper Truckee River
• Development of a water-quality-modeling toolbox to inform pollutant reduction planning, implementation planning, and adaptive management
• Development of a BMP performance assessment and data analysis system for the Tahoe Integrated Information Management System (TIIMS)
• Improving road erosion modeling for the Lake Tahoe basin and evaluating BMP strategies for fine sediment reduction at watershed scales
• Assessing the sources and transport of fine sediment in response to management practices in the Tahoe basin using the WEPP Model
• Quantifying cost effectiveness of different road dust control strategies applied in the Lake Tahoe Basin