TRPA discusses aquatic invasive species, parking and water clarity during tour

by n Laney Griffo Follown lgriffo@tahoedailytribune.comn | Jun 5, 2026 | Uncategorized

LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. – The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) conducted a two-day media tour on the Environmental Improvement Program and projects around the lake. The second day highlighted projects to combat aquatic invasive species and SR28 improvement projects. 

Aquatic Invasive Species

Day two of the tour started with a look at the fight against aquatic invasive species that have already made it into Lake Tahoe. Leaving from Tahoe Keys on one of TRPA’s enforcement vessels, Jeff Cowen, Public Information Officer, pointed out the turbidity curtains that line the marina’s entrance. The curtain uses bubbles to help dislodge aquatic invasive plants from boats to prevent them from leaving the Keys. 

In addition to the curtains, Kim Caringer, Chief Partnerships Officer, TRPA talked about the tarps placed in the water at Taylor Tallac Creek. Those bottom barriers blocked sun and nutrients from reaching the plants, killing them off. The dead plants were removed, as well as the barriers. Now crews are monitoring the area to make sure the plants don’t return.

Caringer talked about the help the agency received from science partners such as the Tahoe Science Advisory Council on focusing their efforts when it comes to fighting AIS. 

“We really had to depend on science and figure out the best way to do this,” Caringer said. “We can’t just go in there and pull the weeds by hand. It’s too big.”

Just outside of the Tahoe Keys, the boat stopped so that attendees could get a clear look, from the boat, off the thousands of asian clam shells that litter the lake bed. The clams, in addition to New Zealand Mudsnails, are two of the invasive species that have made it into the lake. To date, no invasive mussel, such as the quagga mussel or golden mussel, have hitched a ride into Lake Tahoe and that’s because of the efforts of TRPA and their partner agencies, such Tahoe Resource Conservation District to catch the molluscs before they get into the lake. 

Clean, Drain, Dry 

The tour continued to Sand Harbor State Park where attendees were able to see one of three Clean, Drain, Dry, Dispose (CD3) machines. 

The CD3 machines allow visitors to spray, scrub and dry their non-motorized watercraft. While it is not required for non-motorized crafts to be inspected like it is for motorized crafts, it is still required that non-motorized crafts are thoroughly cleaned before entering the lake. One of the CD3 machines stays at Sand Harbor all season while the two others are moved around the basin. 

In addition to the machines, Tahoe RCD employs roving inspectors to chat with people at the beaches and inform them about the Clean, Drain, Dry policies. 

“Last year, we had 17,000 interactions with different boaters and visitors,” said Tom Berndt, Lead Roving Inspector. “The good news is, it’s a very well-received program. Most people show up clean, drain, dry and care very much about the lake.”

The tour also included a stop at the Spooner Summit Watercraft Inspection Station where attendees saw a boat inspection and decontamination in process. All motorized boats need to be inspected before entering into Lake Tahoe for the first time or since being launched in another body of water. 

The process starts with an interview about where the boat was last launched and how long it’s been out of the water. Inspectors then look over the boat, thoroughly looking for any standing water. 

If the boat has any water or has been in a high-risk body of water, it is decontaminated. Inspectors run 120-degree water through the engine and other areas where water might be, such as the anchor storage. Certain boats are sent to mechanics to have the engine taken apart for removal. Once cleaned, a seal is placed on the boat trailer and can only be removed by ramp employees. 

If any invasive species are found, the boat is placed in a 30-day quarantine. 

This season, 17 boats have been found with AIS, including one with the highly invasive golden mussel attached. 

While the current Spooner Summit station is temporary, a permanent inspection station is in the process of being built. The permanent station will allow boat owners to be more comfortable during the process and for employees to have better working conditions. 

Water Clarity

Before docking in Incline Village, the boat stopped at one of UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center’s (TERC) science buoys. There, Bob Larsen, Program Director, Tahoe Science Advisory Council gave a history of clarity measurements on Lake Tahoe. 

“Before I talk about Lake Tahoe, I’m going to go back even further to the pope,” said Larsen. 

In 1825, Angelo Secchi, astronomer, astrophysicist and science advisor to Pope Pius IX demonstrated the use of a white disk to measure water clarity depth. The disc would be called the Secchi disk and is still used in Lake Tahoe today to measure clarity.  

It wasn’t until the late 1950s that Dr. Charles Goldman began measuring the clarity of Lake Tahoe. Observers had seen a troubling trend of the loss of clarity in the lake. Clarity was once 100 feet deep, but the average decreased to 65 feet, with the trend showing a loss of one foot per year. Measurements are still taken regularly throughout the year. On the day of the tour, Tuesday, June 2, a measurement taken showed the clarity at 68 feet. 

Every summer, TERC puts out its annual clarity report that looks at the past year’s trend and the five-year trend. 

State Route 28 Parking

The tour also stopped at the recently completed Chimney Beach Parking Lot, where the Tahoe Transportation District talked about the effort to combat illegal parking on the side of State Route 28. 

During the summer, nearly 1,000 people park illegally on the side of the highway in order to gain access to the East Shore’s beaches. Not only does it pose a safety threat to pedestrians and drivers, it also causes degradation to the environment and runoff into the lake. 

The Chimney Beach lot is one of the several projects on the SR28 corridor to help combat the problem. The lot was once a dirt lot with 30 spots but is now paved and offers 130 spots. In addition, a lighted crosswalk was built connecting the lot to the trail and the beach. 

The Spooner Summit watercraft inspection station will also be home to a transportation hub, that will allow riders to access the beaches using public transit. When completed, the hub will add an additional 250 parking spots to the East Shore. 

You can read about day one of the tour here.

Writers in the wild: 178-miles of ‘fun’

by n Laney Griffo Follown lgriffo@tahoedailytribune.comn | Jun 5, 2026 | Uncategorized

This past weekend, I participated in the Reno-Tahoe Odyssey, and this year was a big one for me. I have now run all 36 legs and have been inducted into the Circle of Fame.

For those who aren’t familiar, the RTO is a two-day, 178-mile relay running race. It starts in Reno, goes through Verdi, up and over Dog Valley into Stampede, across Prosser Dam, through Truckee, along Highway 89 to Tahoe City, continues on 89 to South Lake Tahoe (going up and over Emerald Bay), up and over Kingsbury Grade to Genoa, through Carson City, up Gold Hill into Virginia City, back into Reno and finishes right back where it started. Are you exhausted just reading that? 

The race is typically run by teams of 12. The teams split into two vans, so while one van is running, the other van can rest and replenish. There are 36 legs so each runner takes three. Each runner runs a total of 11 to 18 miles. There are ultra teams with only six runners and there are even two superhumans that have completed the whole solo. 

The first year I did this race, a RTO veteran said to me, “You don’t sleep, you don’t eat well and it’s so much fun,” and that basically sums it up. It is simultaneously the worst time and the most fun and I recommend it to everyone who has even the slightest interest in running. 

This year marked my 9th year of participating. My first year was in 2013, when I was in my early 20s and I have to say, it’s a lot easier to recover from lack of sleep in your 20s than your mid-30s. 

Before this year, I had competed on 4 12-person teams before making the shift to ultra-teams so I was able to cross off the legs faster. While I did love the added challenge and attention of running on an ultrateam, I began to burn out on the race. I took a few years off but the final set of legs was haunting me (which happened to be the longest legs and ranked the second most challenging) and I knew I needed to bite the bullet and get them done. So, when a friend reached out asking me to join his 12-person team, I knew this year was the year. 

I was runner 11, so my first leg was 5.2 miles from Olympic Valley to Tahoe City. The leg followed the bike path along the Truckee River. It was my shortest and my most scenic leg. I also ran it at a reasonable hour of the day, at 4 p.m. 

After our van finished our first set of legs at Homewood, a team member’s wife brought us fried chicken, which we absolutely devoured before going down to the lake to skip rocks. We drove to Kahle Park to take a quick nap before getting ready to run again around 10 p.m. 

My next leg was a 6.1-mile straight shot from Genoa to Jacks Valley Volunteer Fire Station in Carson City at 1:15 a.m. After our van was done with that set of legs, we went to a room our team had reserved at the Carson City Super 8 where we showered and slept. Until about 6 a.m. when we got up to go meet our other van in Virginia City. 

My final leg was 6.9 miles through South Reno and this is when I stopped having fun. About two miles into the run on a completely flat sidewalk on Longely Drive, someone came up next to me and asked if we could run together. I was so excited to make a running friend that I stopped paying attention to where I was stepping. I kicked a rock and fell hard on the decorative rocks that lined the sidewalk. My knee, arm and jaw all took a hit. My new friend (whose name I never caught) checked to make sure I didn’t have a concussion before running off and leaving me to gather my shame. Another van, who had seen “the incident” as I’ve now been referring to it, and stopped to give me water. While I wasn’t seriously injured, I was shaken up, embarrassed and a little sore, making the last 5 miles of the run a slog. It also made the beer at the finish taste that much better, a beer I drank from my “Circle of Fame” stein. 

I could write so much more about this race; about my favorite and least favorite legs, the best and worst places I’ve slept, the funniest things that happened over nine years of competing, and as cliché as it is to say, the friends I’ve made along the way.