by Lisa Wallace, Executive Director
Lake Tahoe casts l o n g shadows: A fame-shadow (Jewel of the Sierra Nevada!), a funding shadow ($415M Lake Tahoe Restoration Act), and a research-shadow (University of Nevada a Reno, UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center). Those shadows sometimes block fame, funding, and research for the Truckee River watershed.
So, we can either mope about this and try to competitively keep up with Lake Tahoe Joneses.
Or we can see the Lake Tahoe Joneses as friendly, more sophisticated neighbors and learn from them.
Case in point: a recent survey of aquatic invertebrates (water bugs) at Lake Tahoe is showing a massive extinction of the native species. These bugs are the foundation of the aquatic food web and they keep the Lake clear. More details are included in this interview with Sudeep Chandra.
To see how how we are keeping up, and to learn more about the water bugs of the Truckee River please join us at “Bugs, Dirt, and Data: New Findings Tell Us the Truckee River Needs Our Help.”
At the Truckee River Watershed Council we are all in: Bugs. Birds. Critters. Plants & people. And even the Tahoe Joneses.
Join us to transform the health and resiliency of our environment—so that nature and humanity can thrive together for generations.
Thank you to the donors of the Truckee River Watershed Council for funding the Adopt-A-Stream teams to measure the water quality and health of our local streams.
Photo: Sagehen Creek – Volunteers take water samples on Adopt-a-Stream Snapshot Day. Photo credit: Joel Erikson.