A federal bill was signed into legislation that makes additional investments in Tahoe’s environment, its delicate ecology, as well as its community.
Tahoe will receive $23.8million from the Lake Restoration Act. $3.4million from the previously approved bipartisan Infrastructure Law and $2 million in community grant funding through U.S. Department of Transportation fiscal year 2022 will also be provided to Tahoe.
Tahoe doesn’t belong to Nevada or California, it is a national treasure. Darcie Goodman Coll, CEO of Keep Tahoe Blue, stated that Tahoe isn’t just a Nevada or California thing. We are encouraged that Washington D.C. decision-makers have taken this bipartisan action in order to preserve, protect and Keep Tahoe Blue, particularly in the face climate change and severe wildfire.
The approved funding supports a number of Tahoe priorities. It includes wildfire preparedness. This need was tragically highlighted in the Caldor Fire that scorched 10,000 acres of the Tahoe Basin in summer 2021. These appropriations include:
$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 prevention and control
$2,000,000 for infrastructure improvements along the highly-visited SR-28 corridor
The Lake Tahoe Restoration Act provides the latest funding, a 148% increase over the previous fiscal year. This underscores Tahoe’s importance in the national arena and the many pressures that it faces.
Joanne Marchetta, executive director of Tahoe Regional Planning Agency said that the Tahoe region as well as our lake are at serious risk from the combined effects of climate change and increased recreational pressures. This record-breaking amount of funding through Lake Tahoe Restoration Act will help to protect the lake’s forests and meadows, water infrastructure, transportation, as well as the world-famous clarity. We are grateful to Tahoe’s congressional leaders as well as our partners in advocacy for a continued shared investment in Tahoes future.
The Lake Tahoe Restoration Acts, which have been in existence for over 20 years, have been a crucial channel of support to the Basins’ environmental health, as well as a source of jobs and economic activity within the local community. 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 is an advocacy group coordinated jointly by the League to Save Lake Tahoe (Tahoe Regional Planning Agency), Tahoe Chamber and Tahoe Chamber. They will continue to work together with federal representatives to extend authorization for Lake Tahoe Restoration Act 2022.
“As the Tahoe Basin’s largest landowner, these federal investments are an appropriate and a much-appreciated contribution along with state, local and private sector investments in the Lake Tahoe Environmental Improvement Program,” said Steve Teshara, director of government relations for Tahoe Chamber. “The multi-sector funding for EIP creates jobs and stimulates entrepreneurial innovations in science, forest and land management, and water quality protection.”
Source: League to Save Lake Tahoe
