New partnership uses technology to improve government
Stateline, Nevada – The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and the “Hack Tahoe” Code for America Brigade are partnering to enhance the effectiveness of government through the use of technology.
This new partnership brings community members together through Code for America, a non-profit organization on a mission to make government services simple, effective, and easy to use. Code for America has launched more than 2,300 projects with 100 government partners. Local Code for America chapters are called brigades and are organized by local volunteers.
“Collaborating with strong government partners is key to building an effective brigade, which is why I’m absolutely thrilled to announce TRPA as our first government partner,” said Ben Damman, lead organizer of the Hack Tahoe Brigade.
Government partners bring subject matter expertise, outreach skills, public administration, and valuable experience around solving the toughest problems in our cities. Brigades support local governments by working together on events and civic technology projects.
“TRPA is committed to delivering better services to the public through innovation and new technology. We will work directly with the community to create the improvements they want to see,” said Joanne Marchetta, Executive Director of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. “By working with Hack Tahoe we will be better equipped to use technology to address our area’s environmental, economic, and societal needs.”
A National Day of Civic Hacking event is taking place June 4 and 5 at the new Mountain Lab building in South Lake Tahoe. National Day of Civic Hacking is a nationwide day of action where developers, government employees, designers, journalists, data scientists, non-profit employees, UX designers, and residents who care about their communities come together to host civic tech events leveraging their skills to help their community.
“Hosting a Code for America event at the Mountain Lab leverages the amazing engagement the members of our community are known for,” said Jamie Orr, CEO of Mountain Lab.
Hack Tahoe welcomes all community members who wish to support their cause — regardless of their level of technology expertise.
The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency leads the cooperative effort to preserve, restore, and enhance the unique natural and human environment of the Lake Tahoe Region, while improving local communities, and people’s interactions with our irreplaceable environment. For additional information, contact Devin Middlebrook, Environmental Education Specialist, at 775-589-5230 or dmiddlebrook@trpa.gov.
Hack Tahoe is Lake Tahoe’s official Code for America Brigade, a not-for-profit group of local citizens and civic hackers on a mission to improve the delivery of government services and strengthen Lake Tahoe communities. For additional information, contact Ben Damman, Brigade Captain, at 650-930-0813 or ben.damman@gmail.com.
From left to right: Joanne Marchetta (TRPA), Beth Quandt, Benjamin Fish, Lisa Wallace, Cyrus Miller, Casey Beyer (TRPA)
Lake Tahoe, Stateline, NV – The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency presented Lake Spirit Awards to four people who possess a strong personal commitment to preserving Lake Tahoe at today’s Governing Board meeting.
The Lake Spirit Awards honor people making real progress at restoring Lake Tahoe. Created in 2011, the awards are a way to recognize those individuals whose passion for Tahoe results in progress and environmental improvements.
“This year’s winners show amazing commitment by going above and beyond to protect our region,” said Devin Middlebrook, environmental education specialist at TRPA. “When it comes to creating environmental improvements on the ground, everyone has a role to play.”
Awards were given in two categories, exemplary citizen and exemplary agency representative. This year’s winners are:
Exemplary Citizen
Ben Fish, South Shore
South Shore: Ben Fish is president of both the Tahoe Area Mountain Bike Association and Bijou Bike Park Association. Through his work, Ben has led hundreds of volunteers over thousands of hours to build and maintain bike trails around the lake while advocating for sustainable trail use. In addition to his advocacy for the mountain bike community, Ben was the impetus behind the Bijou Bike Park, which has quickly become a hub for recreation in the community. Ben works closely with a wide range of public and private partners to create projects that benefit the entire community.
Cyrus Miller, North Shore
North Shore: Cyrus Miller is an Eagle Scout candidate from Troop 228 of the Boy Scouts of America. Although Cyrus lives in the Bay Area, he regularly visits the North Shore of Lake Tahoe with his family. On one of his visits, he noticed an old rusted pipe laying on the drought-exposed lakebed just south of Tahoe City. Cyrus decided to make removing this pipe his Eagle Scout candidacy project. After seven months of planning with local agencies and property owners, Cyrus and the rest of his troop spent two days last June removing the pipe section by section from the lake. In total, the scouts removed 730 feet of old pipe and restored the lakebed to a more natural state.
Exemplary Agency Representative
Beth Quandt, South Shore
South Shore: Beth Quandt works as the science program coordinator with the Lake Tahoe Unified School District. Beth is the lead organizer for the South Tahoe Environmental Education Coalition (STEEC), which implements hands-on outdoor science programing in local schools. With more than 20 local partners, the organization and leadership demonstrated by Beth is critical in implementing science programs. Her passion for educating and inspiring local students to become stewards of their environment is priceless. The programs that Beth Quandt leads serve roughly 14,500 students, teachers, and volunteers each year.
Lisa Wallace, North Shore
North Shore: Lisa Wallace is executive director for the Truckee River Watershed Council. For 20 years, Lisa has worked to protect, restore, and enhance the Truckee River Watershed. She has guided the council’s efforts by implementing hundreds of projects, leading thousands of volunteers, and fostering public-private partnerships. Lisa also played a key role in the implementation of the Truckee River Operating Agreement, which affects all waterbodies and water users. This ability to build consensus across jurisdictional boundaries is critical to strengthening local communities and protecting the environment.
The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency leads the cooperative effort to preserve, restore, and enhance the unique natural and human environment of the Lake Tahoe Region, while improving local communities, and people’s interactions with our irreplaceable environment. For additional information, contact Devin Middlebrook, at 775-589-5230 or by email at dmiddlebrook@trpa.gov.
Clarity levels at Lake Tahoe in 2015 declined in both summer and winter, due in part to warmer waters, according to researchers at the University of California, Davis, who have studied the lake for the last half-century.
Data released today by the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency reported the average annual clarity level for 2015 at 73.1 feet. That is the depth at which a 10-inch white disk, called a Secchi disk, remains visible when lowered into the water.
This is a 4.8 foot decrease from the previous year but is still over 9 feet greater than the lowest recorded average of 64.1 feet in 1997.
The declines are not considered to be part of a long-term trend. They are part of the year-to-year variability that has always characterized conditions at the lake. The record indicates that Lake Tahoe’s long-term trend of decline ended about 15 years ago. Since then, clarity has hovered around a value of 71 feet.
Warmer runoff water affects lake
“It is commonly believed that drought years produce clearer water conditions, but the reality is more complicated than that,” said Geoffrey Schladow, director of the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center.
The annual precipitation for 2015 was 18 inches, only slightly lower than the previous year. However, the fraction of precipitation that fell as snow was only 5.3 percent, the lowest recorded measurement in 105 years.
“In 2015, the runoff water into the lake was warmer than the previous year, on account of the low snow-to-rain ratio,” Schladow said. “As a consequence, fine particles flowed in closer to the surface, where they impacted clarity, rather than plunging to the deeper parts of the lake.”
Seasonal variability
The 2015 clarity level is the average of 30 individual readings taken from January through December 2015. The highest value recorded in 2015 was 86.5 feet on April 22, and the lowest was 59.9 feet on Feb. 3.
Winter clarity last year declined by 7.6 feet. The winter average of 71.6 feet was above the worst winter average, 66.6 feet, seen in 1997.
During most years, summer clarity is poorer than winter clarity, but 2015 was an exception. Summer clarity averaged 73 feet, a 3.7 foot decline over the preceding year. The lack of deep mixing during the winter resulted in very little of the pristine, deep water being brought up to the lake surface to dilute the clarity-reducing contaminants. Despite this, the long-term decline in summer conditions is still a major concern.
Working together
The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency leads the collaborative effort to reduce stormwater runoff and manages the multijurisdictional Lake Tahoe Environmental Improvement Program to repair past damage to the ecosystem.
Over the past two decades, the Environmental Improvement Program has resulted in substantial public and private investment in projects to improve water quality and other environmental indicators at Lake Tahoe. Among the hundreds of measurements the TRPA tracks, mid-lake clarity is a key indicator of whether restoration programs are working.
“We are pleased to see that our extensive work to reduce stormwater pollution into Lake Tahoe has contributed to stopping the long-term decline in its water clarity,” said Joanne S. Marchetta, executive director of Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. “TRPA will continue to work with scientific researchers and other agencies to better understand the dynamics of lake mixing and climate influences, and work toward the best solutions to restore Tahoe’s famed clarity.”
Clarity a key indicator for Tahoe
Water clarity measurements have been taken continuously since 1968, when the Secchi disk could be seen down to 102.4 feet, and is one of the longest, unbroken clarity records in the world. Secchi depth is the most widely used method of clarity measurement, and the values agree with laser-based measurements also taken by TERC researchers.
Improved real-time monitoring instruments, together with sophisticated models of the lake currents that transport contaminants in Lake Tahoe, are helping researchers build a deeper understanding of restoration progress within the entire lake ecosystem.
“The Secchi depth is but one indicator of Lake Tahoe’s ecological health, albeit a very good one,” Schladow said. “The extreme conditions in 2015 are also impacting other parts of the system such as the nearshore zone. Separating out what is a long-term change from the expected year-to-year variability for all aspects of the lake is a major challenge for researchers.”
While the average annual clarity in the past decade has been better than in preceding decades, it is still short of the clarity restoration target of 97.4 feet set by federal and state regulators, a goal agencies and the Tahoe Basin community continue to work toward.
More information about environmental factors affecting Lake Tahoe will be included in the 2015 State of the Lake Report, expected this summer.
Funding for TERC’s clarity analyses comes from the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and UC Davis.
Lake Tahoe, Stateline, NV — Through a new educational program spearheaded by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and other basin partners, Lake Tahoe Unified School District students are taking full advantage of winter to learn about avalanche safety, winter animal survival and the science of snowmaking.
During five program days this winter, 305 fifth-grade students will participate in the newly created Epic Winter Adventure Program. Taking place at the Top of the Tram at Heavenly Mountain Resort, students strap on snowshoes and explore the winter habitat overlooking Lake Tahoe. The goal of the program is to teach students about Tahoe’s winter environment and mountain safety in an effort to inspire the next generation of environmental stewards.
“Heavenly is fortunate to be able to partner with local organizations, including schools, educational coalitions and non-profits, to provide a wonderful educational setting where local students can learn first-hand on the snow,” said Pete Sonntag, VP and COO of Heavenly Mountain Resort. “This new program gets every fifth grader on the mountain and connected with our unique Lake Tahoe ecosystem. The EpicPromise Grant Program is a great avenue for us to provide funding for this valuable curriculum.”
At the avalanche station, experts from the Sierra Avalanche Center teach students the science behind avalanches, including how to dig a snow test pit and the principles behind “know before you go.” They also receive a safety talk from Heavenly Ski Patrol staff and get to meet some of the avalanche search and rescue dogs.
The Tahoe Institute for Natural Sciences teaches students about the different techniques animals use to survive harsh winter conditions, adaptation strategies and how to identify animal tracks in the snow.
Lastly, Heavenly employees teach students about the science of snowmaking and environmental restoration projects on the mountain. Students learn how to take key measurements, such as temperature and humidity, and determine if snowmaking is possible. They also get to see and touch the snowmaking equipment up-close.
“Many of my students have never walked on snowshoes or been to the top of Heavenly,” said Gina LoCicero, fifth grade teacher at Bijou Elementary School. “It is invaluable for my students to gain new experiences and learn about Tahoe outside of the classroom.”
Billy Clark and Jake Blazek demonstrating to a group how they hook up snowmaking equipment
Students walking between education stations at the Top of the Tram
Students from Tahoe Valley Elementary School gather for a group photo
Tahoe Valley Elementary School students learning about the science of snowmaking
Students learning how to dig a test snow pit and the science behind avalanches
Don Triplet of the Sierra Avalanche Center teaches about avalanche safety and the principles of “know before you go”
Students from the Lake Tahoe Environmental Magnet School learning the science of snowmaking
The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency leads the cooperative effort to preserve, restore, and enhance the unique natural and human environment of the Lake Tahoe Region, while improving local communities, and people’s interactions with our irreplaceable environment. For additional information, call Devin Middlebrook, Environmental Education Specialist, at 775-589-5230 or dmiddlebrook@trpa.gov.
