LAKE TAHOE in California/Nev. – On March 15, a federal law was signed that makes additional critical investments in Tahoe’s environment, to protect its delicate ecology, as well as to support its community.
Tahoe will receive $23.8million through the Lake Restoration Act. This includes $3.4 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and $2 million in Community Project funding through the U.S. Department of Transportation for the fiscal year 2022.
Tahoe is not a property of Nevada or California. It is a national treasure, stated Darcie Goodman Collins CEO of the League to Save Lake Tahoe (also known as Keep Tahoe Blue). We are encouraged that Washington D.C. decision-makers have taken this bipartisan action in order to protect, preserve, Keep Tahoe Blue, particularly in the face climate change, extreme wildfire, and other threats.
The funding approved supports a range Tahoe priorities including wildfire preparedness. This need was tragically highlighted in the Caldor Fire which scorched 10,000 acres of the Tahoe Basin during the summer 2021.
The following are the appropriations
$7,000,000 for water infrastructure to support fire suppression
$6,500,000 for watershed management
$6,000,000 for forest health
$7,700,000. for aquatic invasive species control.
$2,000,000 for infrastructure improvements along the highly-visited SR-28 corridor
The Lake Tahoe Restoration Act’s latest funding represents a 148 per cent increase in funding compared to the previous fiscal years. This highlights Tahoe’s importance on the national stage as well as the many pressures it faces.
Joanne S. Marchetta (Taho Regional Planning Agency Executive Director) stated that the Tahoe region as well as our lake are at serious risk from the increasing recreational pressures and the compounding effects of climate change. The record-breaking funding provided by the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act will be beneficial to the lake’s forests, meadows and water infrastructure as well as transportation and the lake’s world-famous clarity. We are grateful for the continued investment in Tahoe’s future by Tahoe’s congressional leaders and partners in advocacy.
The Lake Tahoe Restoration Acts have been an important channel of support for Basin environmental health and a source local jobs and economic activity for more than 20 years. In 2021, Senator Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada and Rep. Mark Amodei from Nevada introduced bipartisan legislation to extend authorization of the 2016 Lake Tahoe Restoration Act. This will allow the pipeline to continue to be open for hundreds of million dollars to complete critical environmental work and make Tahoe more resilient to climate change.
The Lake Tahoe Partnership, an advocacy organization coordinated by the League to Save Lake Tahoe and Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, as well as many partners, will continue to work with Tahoe’s federal representatives to extend authorization for the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act in 2022.
“As the largest landowner in Tahoe Basin, these federal investments are a suitable and much-appreciated contribution alongside state, local and private sector investments into the Lake Tahoe Environmental Improvement Program,” stated Steve Teshara (director of government relations at Tahoe Chamber). “Multi-sector funding for EIP creates job opportunities and stimulates entrepreneurship innovations in science, forest management and water quality protection.”
League to Save Lake Tahoe Press Release
