Lake Tahoe gets first $37 million

INCLINE VILLAGE - Interior Secretary Gale Norton made the first $37-million installment on restoration projects for Lake Tahoe at the eighth annual environmental forum on Thursday at Ponderosa Ranch

The money, raised from sales of public lands in Southern Nevada, will fund 50 high-priority environmental improvement projects.

More than $3 million will fund forest thinning to reduce the wildfire threat. Other top projects include work to reduce the amount of sediment and nutrients that flow into Lake Tahoe and cloud its water.

Legislation authored by Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., provides $300 million from the sale of public land outside Las Vegas. The money is earmarked for the Environmental Improvement Program, a $908-million initiative to protect the lake. The announcement by Norton on Thursday was the first installment of the money to reach Lake Tahoe.

"This place is truly a national treasure," Norton told a crowd of about 150. "It gives me great pleasure today to be here providing $37 million to help restore the clarity of Lake Tahoe."

Other than money, the thrust of the forum was appreciation for collaboration and cooperation among public and private groups to protect and restore the lake.

"The effort is absolutely tremendous," said Rochelle Nason, executive director of the League to Save Lake Tahoe who spoke on behalf of the Lake Tahoe Transportation and Water Quality Coalition.

Acknowledging the ongoing restoration could not have been made possible without the sacrifice of basin property owners, Nason congratulated them for donating hundreds of lots and selling their properties at a discount to help fund projects.

While the 15 officials who spoke at the forum praised efforts to protect the lake, they also pointed out how a catastrophic wildfire could quickly negate the work that's been accomplished.

Fire plans for districts throughout the basin are nearing completion, said John Singlaub, executive director of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. They will be combined into a single fire plan for the basin with the hope that it will allow Lake Tahoe to obtain a portion of the $700 million approved by Congress to reduce the threat of wildfire in the nation.

Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn reminded people how close the Waterfall fire came to the basin. The fire burned land around Carson City last month. It destroyed 18 homes, burned 8,700 acres and came within two miles of the Lake Tahoe Basin.

"It could have been right here just as easy," Guinn said. "All we need is one fire equal to what happened in Carson City to eliminate 100 years of water clarity."

Guinn also took time to playfully chastise Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for not attending the forum.

"I talked to him on the phone the other day," Guinn said. "That big slug. If he doesn't come next year, I'm going to arm wrestle and drag him over here."

Also Thursday, federal Environmental Protection Agency administrator Wayne Nastri announced approval of a $1.1 million grant to fund pollution studies for Lake Tahoe.

The EPA grant money will fund an ongoing bistate research project to determine how much sediment and nutrients Lake Tahoe can absorb without affecting its clarity.

The research will be done by UC Davis, Desert Research Institute in Reno and private consultants. The study is scheduled to be completed by 2007 and provide data for long-term plans by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and the U.S. Forest Service.