Very good news and proof based on fact, that work has not been in vain.
Hopes rise for keeping Tahoe blue as clouding trend slows
By Chris Bowman - cbowman@sacbee.com
Published 12:00 am PDT Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Scientists who for decades reported that famously clear Lake Tahoe was turning murkier have discovered that its clarity actually has been stabilizing since 2001.
Using a new, more sophisticated statistical analysis of environmental data, researchers also determined that a reduced rate of visibility loss in the lake was likely the payoff from decades of erosion control, purchases of environmentally sensitive land and restrictive building rules designed to curb runoff.
"It's a good hypothesis that the land use restrictions and erosion controls have something to do with it," said John Reuter, a lake scientist with the University of California, Davis, Tahoe Environmental Research Center.
The findings, released Monday, mark the most encouraging development in 40 years of monitoring the clouding of Lake Tahoe, according to Charles Goldman, a UCD professor who in the 1960s was the first to foresee Tahoe's troubles, and then act on its behalf.
"There's promise in this data that we've crossed the line," Goldman said.
"That's excellent news," cheered Rochelle Nason, executive director of the League to Save Lake Tahoe, known for its "Keep Tahoe Blue" bumper stickers.
"We have good reason to believe the measures to protect Lake Tahoe are indeed improving the clarity, and this news supports that," Nason said.
