Patty Kouyoumdjian: Clear Path to a Clear Lake Tahoe (1) 7:03

There is a clear path we can take to restore Lake Tahoe’s clarity according to Patty Kouyoumdjian, Executive Officer of the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board. She says, “I think we are very clear on where the sources of pollution are and I think we are relatively set on what actions need to happen to improve lake clarity”. In this 2012 Tahoe Project interview Kouyoumdjian emphasizes the “true and hard and real measures that we have to reach,” talking about the reductions in ultra-fine particles that have to be made at Lake Tahoe by 2026. She says, we now have “a very clear roadmap of what we need to do,” to accomplish our goal of water clarity at Lake Tahoe.

photo: Reducing ultra fine sediment particles getting to Lake Tahoe will help water clarity. Blue Tahoe Wave © 2013 Michelle Sweeney

Bob Larsen: Cost-Effective Steps to a Clear Lake Tahoe (1) 8:11

Bob Larsen is Staff Scientist at the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board. In this 2012 interview he says, “I think the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) provided us with the opportunity to be more involved in the process [of solving Lake Tahoe clarity decline], to engage with the scientific community and our implementing partners to figure out, to better understand, the problem and to better understand what the potential solutions might be—to be a more-active partner in the restoration of Lake Tahoe’s transparency.”

photo: Maintaining and operating roads is a big step toward water clarity. Emerald Bay Moraine © 2013 Michelle Sweeney

Peter Kraatz: Maintain Roads and Infrastructure for a Clear Lake Tahoe (1) 11:16

Public Works professionals throughout the Lake Tahoe Basin are striving to meet the Clarity Challenge—to reduce the number of ultra-fine sediment particles that get to Lake Tahoe every year by one-third by 2026. This is no small task. Among them is Peter Kraatz, Deputy Director of Public Works at Placer County. In this 2012 interview Kraatz talks about the “preferred design approach” engineers use to design systems that reduce the transport of ultra-fine sediment to Lake Tahoe. 

Existing infrastructure such as roads and bike paths can be operated and maintained to help Lake Tahoe clarity. photo: Tahoe City Bike Path source: Tahoe City Public Utility District

TAHOE REGIONAL PLAN UPDATE APPROVED

Governors Jerry Brown and Brian Sandoval have a shared present under the holiday tree this season. The Tahoe Regional Plan package of updates was approved with the vote of twelve Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Governing Board members. This is an important step toward the potential repeal of Nevada Senate Bill 271 though there is a 60-day window during which litigation against the update could be filed, reversing that process. The Regional Plan update suite of documents and agreements has been nearly a decade in the making and rejuvenated dialogue between California and Nevada about management of their shared “jewel of the Sierra” —Lake Tahoe.

Patty Kouyoumdjian: Clear Path to a Clear Lake Tahoe (1) 7:03

There is a clear path we can take to restore Lake Tahoe’s clarity according to Patty Kouyoumdjian, Executive Officer of the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board. She says, “I think we are very clear on where the sources of pollution are and I think we are relatively set on what actions need to happen to improve lake clarity”. In this 2012 Tahoe Project interview Kouyoumdjian emphasizes the “true and hard and real measures that we have to reach,” talking about the reductions in ultra-fine particles that have to be made at Lake Tahoe by 2026. She says, we now have “a very clear roadmap of what we need to do,” to accomplish our goal of water clarity at Lake Tahoe.

photo: Reducing ultra fine sediment particles getting to Lake Tahoe will help water clarity. Blue Tahoe Wave © 2013 Michelle Sweeney

Bob Larsen: Cost-Effective Steps to a Clear Lake Tahoe (1) 8:11

Bob Larsen is Staff Scientist at the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board. In this 2012 interview he says, “I think the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) provided us with the opportunity to be more involved in the process [of solving Lake Tahoe clarity decline], to engage with the scientific community and our implementing partners to figure out, to better understand, the problem and to better understand what the potential solutions might be—to be a more-active partner in the restoration of Lake Tahoe’s transparency.”

photo: Maintaining and operating roads is a big step toward water clarity. Emerald Bay Moraine © 2013 Michelle Sweeney

Peter Kraatz: Maintain Roads and Infrastructure for a Clear Lake Tahoe (1) 11:16

Public Works professionals throughout the Lake Tahoe Basin are striving to meet the Clarity Challenge—to reduce the number of ultra-fine sediment particles that get to Lake Tahoe every year by one-third by 2026. This is no small task. Among them is Peter Kraatz, Deputy Director of Public Works at Placer County. In this 2012 interview Kraatz talks about the “preferred design approach” engineers use to design systems that reduce the transport of ultra-fine sediment to Lake Tahoe. 

Existing infrastructure such as roads and bike paths can be operated and maintained to help Lake Tahoe clarity. photo: Tahoe City Bike Path source: Tahoe City Public Utility District

2012 Interview with Claire Fortier, Mayor, City of South Lake Tahoe (2)

How well are investments in the environment performing? Monitoring is conducted in the effort to answer this question. In this interview, Claire Fortier, Mayor of the City of South Lake Tahoe, argues that monitoring is useful when deployed in a targeted context, where the objectives are defined. In this conversation Fortier shares a little bit about the hefty price tag of monitoring and the drive for continual improvement based upon the monitoring results.

photo: Claire Fortier, by City of South Lake Tahoe

Interview with Tony Lashbrook, Town of Truckee Town Manager (2)

"How do we maintain this real place? That is a challenge that keeps me awake at night," says Tony Lashbrook. In this, part 2, of the conversation with the Truckee Town Manager hear Lashbrook's reflections on Truckee's authenticity and unique assets and about his team's search for prosperity when the traditional tools for redevelopment are no longer available.

photo source: Linked In

Interview with Tony Lashbrook, Town of Truckee Town Manager (1)

"We are looking at how to foster development..." says Tony Lashbrook, Manager of the Town of Truckee. Truckee was on a wave of economic expansion based on its ability to accommodate second home construction when the present housing crisis and economic downturn hit. The Town of Truckee looked to California redevelopment programs as a way to move into a new era of progress in the Town when the state withdrew support for that program. In this interview hear Lashbrook’s perspective on the modern era’s boom and bust as manifest in Truckee.

photo source: Linked In

Edgewood Tahoe Lodge Permit Approved

The Edgewood Tahoe Lodge permit was approved with a unanimous vote of the 14-member Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) Governing Board on August 23, 2012. Public comment at the meeting lauded the anticipated environmental and economic benefits of the project.

The Edgewood Tahoe Lodge, Patrick Rhamey Interview (3)

Welcome to part 3 in the interview with Patrick Rhamey, Vice President of Real Estate with Edgewood Companies. In this interview host Michelle Sweeney talks with him about the Edgewood Tahoe Lodge project. The existing Stateline Stormwater system treats runoff from properties that are on Edgewood Companies' land in the Tahoe Basin. Can this system serve as a model for collaboration opportunities elsewhere in the Basin?

photo: Patrick Rhamey, courtesy Edgewood Companies 

TAHOE REGIONAL PLAN UPDATE APPROVED

Governors Jerry Brown and Brian Sandoval have a shared present under the holiday tree this season. The Tahoe Regional Plan package of updates was approved with the vote of twelve Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Governing Board members. This is an important step toward the potential repeal of Nevada Senate Bill 271 though there is a 60-day window during which litigation against the update could be filed, reversing that process. The Regional Plan update suite of documents and agreements has been nearly a decade in the making and rejuvenated dialogue between California and Nevada about management of their shared “jewel of the Sierra” —Lake Tahoe.

2012 Interview with Joanne Marchetta, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (4)

The Tahoe Region is updating its vision of its communities and the way they will look and function in the twenty-first century. Discussions are now underway in local communities around the Tahoe Basin about what they will look like and what their interface with the environment will be. Residents, homeowners and visitors to the Tahoe area are invited to participate in these planning opportunities says Joanne Marchetta in this fourth-in-the-series interview with the Executive of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.

photo: Lake Tahoe, by Michelle Sweeney

2012 Interview with Joanne Marchetta, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (3)

“Let the system focus on the places where you get the biggest environmental bang for the buck,” this is the advice that the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) took from the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL). The flexibility that we have built into the system is based on this new paradigm that says: focus on the locations where you can get the greatest pollutant load reduction, says Joanne Marchetta, TRPA Executive. The pollutants at issue are ultra-fine sediment, nitrogen and phosphorus. Creating the regulatory flexibility to enable jurisdictions to go after these pollutants is a high priority undertaking in the Tahoe planning process. 

photo: Lake Tahoe, by Michelle Sweeney

2012 Interview with Joanne Marchetta, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (2)

In this interview segment Joanne Marchetta, TRPA Executive Director, responds to the question, "What is the role of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) in relation to incentive and means in the private sector?" In response Marchetta highlights how the TRPA is shifting into a more-regional role than it previously played. She says, “…[local government] knows that the way to protect themselves is to protect the environment here.” She underscores how the new regional plan envisions place-making happening in the hands of local citizens and local government, where TRPA plays a role in approving the plans and ensuring their consistency with the environmental sideboards set by TRPA while leaving local character to be determined by citizens.

photo: Lake Tahoe, by Michelle Sweeney

Lake Tahoe Regional Plan Update Approved, Hailed by State and Regional Leaders

This is a verbatim copy of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Press Release on the subject of the December 12 Governing Board vote to approve the Regional Plan update package.

Lake Tahoe Protections Abandoned by Tahoe Regional Planning Agency

This is a verbatim copy of the Tahoe Area Sierra Club Press Release on the subject of the December 12 Governing Board vote to approve the Regional Plan update package.

Norma Santiago Interview (2)

The Meyers Community at Lake Tahoe is updating the Community Plan which describes the desired future of the area. Toward this end a community workshop, open to the public, is being hosted at 5:30 PM on Wednesday, November 7th at 2211 Keetak Street, behind the Lake Valley Fire Station. An update to the general plan for Tahoe Paradise Park will be an important aspect of discussion.

photo: Norma Santiago.

Norma Santiago Interview (1)

Norma Santiago is the District 5 El Dorado County Supervisor, representing South Lake Tahoe and Pollock Pines. In this interview Santiago talks about the Tahoe Regional Plan Update and opportunities to build trust and solutions. On Wednesday, November 7th, starting at 5:30 PM at the firehouse at 2211 Keetak Street, Santiago will host a workshop about the future of the unicorporated area of Meyers in South Lake Tahoe. Hear more in Part 2 of this interview.

photo: Norma Santiago.