Lake Tahoe restoration to receive less federal funding than last year

Lake Tahoe restoration is on tap to receive federal funding of $20.05 million this year, about $350,000 less than last year, after the U.S. Senate passed 11 appropriation measures late Thursday.

The resolution had $6.35 million earmarked for Lake Tahoe restoration by the Bush administration and an additional $14 million requested by Nevada lawmakers, including Sens. Harry Reid, a Democrat, and John Ensign, a Republican.

President Bush is expected to sign the budget package.

"Sen. Reid remains committed to protecting the lake, and each year he tries to reach the funding established in the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act," said Reid's press secretary Tessa Hafen after the vote.

"Sen. Reid had asked for more money, but when Republicans took control, a significant amount was cut from a number of projects. He will keep fighting for funding to protect and save Lake Tahoe," she added.

Earlier Thursday, Sen. Ensign said in a telephone press conference that he was confident the Bush administration's budget measure -- one of 11 appropriation measures in the federal budget known as the Omnibus Appropriations Resolution -- would gain Senate approval.

Ensign said that he, Reid and Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Reno, have been working through other areas of the federal budget, including the U.S. Forest Service sections, to come up with more funding to match the $30 million Congress has been authorized to spend annually on Tahoe restoration.

The money will be used to fund the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act signed by President Clinton in 1997, which authorized Congress to spend $300 million to fund projects that address the lake's declining clarity.

The act authorizes Congress to spend up to $30 million a year for 10 years. However, money from budgets in the Clinton and Bush administrations haven't matched the commitment.

The target date to implement more than 900 environmental improvement program projects designed to help the lake is 2010.

2003 appropriations spending approved by the U.S. Senate include:

n $15.95 million for Lake Tahoe restoration projects

n $3 million for the South Lake Tahoe environmental restoration project

n $500,000 for the Environmental Improvement Program for the Lake Tahoe Basin

n $400,000 for the Tahoe Basin conservation projects

n $200,000 for Tahoe Basin soil surveys