Pacific Southwest Research Station

Publications and Products

General Technical Report

Title: Lake Tahoe Watershed Assessment: Volume I

Author: Murphy, Dennis D.; Knopp, Christopher M., technical editors.

Date: 2000

Source: Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-175. Albany, CA: Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service, US Department of Agriculture; 753 p.

Station ID: GTR-PSW-175

Description: This watershed assessment of the Lake Tahoe basin in northern California and Nevada is the first attempt to collate, synthesize, and interpret available scientific information with a comprehensive view toward management and policy outcomes. The seven-chapter report presents new and existing information in subject areas pertinent to policy development and land and resource management in the basin, including environmental history, air quality, watershed dynamics and water quality, biological integrity, and socioeconomic conditions. Key findings report the extent of recent climatic changes, historic accounts of past environmental disturbances, state of our understanding of why the Lake’s clarity is declining, significant role that air quality plays in the decline, and an initial nutrient budget for nitrogen and phosphorous that are believed to fuel algae growth. In addition, important new work related to old-growth forests, the risk of wildfire and the conservation of biological diversity in the basin have helped to broaden our perspective of the interrelated nature of the environmental challenge facing the basin. Detailed analysis of institutional arrangements and capacities in the Lake Tahoe basin is presented in the context of environmental decision-making.

Key Words: environmental history, air quality, water quality, biotic integrity, socioeconomics, adaptive management, California, Nevada

View/Print entire publication: Volume I (19.6 MB) or select individual sections from below:

Volume I

Front Matter, Volume I (312 KB)

Table of Contents, Volume I (121 KB)

Chapter 1: Introduction with Key Findings (1.0 MB)
Dennis D. Murphy

Chapter 2: A Contextual Overview of Human Land Use and Environmental Conditions (6.8 MB)
Susan Lindstrom with contributions from Penny Rucks and Peter Wigand

Chapter 3: Air Quality (4.1 MB)
Steven S. Cliff and Thomas A. Cahill

Chapter 4: Aquatic Resources, Water Quality, and Limnology of Lake Tahoe and Its Upland Watershed (4.9 MB)
John E. Reuter and Wally W. Miller

Chapter 5: Biological Integrity (10.9 KB)
Patricia N. Manley, Jo Ann A. Fites-Kaufman, Michael G. Barbour, Matthew D. Schlesinger, and David M. Rizzo

Chapter 6: Social, Economic, and Institutional Assessment (4.1 KB)
Mark Nechodom, Rowan Rowntree, Nick Dennis, Hank Robison, and Jamie Goldstein

Chapter 7: Elements of an Adaptive Management Strategy for the Lake Tahoe Basin (1.2 KB)
Patricia N. Manley, John C. Tracy, Dennis D. Murphy, Barry R. Noon, Mark A. Nechodom, and Christopher M. Knopp

Volume II Appendix (PSW-GTR-176)

Citation

Murphy, Dennis D.; Knopp, Christopher M., technical editors.  2000.  Lake Tahoe watershed assessment: volume I.  Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-175. Albany, CA: Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service, US Department of Agriculture; 753 p.