STATELINE, Nev. – The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) governing board met on Wednesday to discuss updates to the water quality and forest health thresholds, in conjunction with the Tahoe Science Advisory Council and Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team (TFFT). Executive director Julie Regan also gave a report.
Public comment
During public comment, South Lake Tahoe Fire Chief Jim Drennan and Steve Teshara, on behalf of the Tahoe Chamber, spoke in support of the TRPA approving Lake Tahoe Community College’s public safety training complex.
Teshara, along with Keep Tahoe Blue, TFFT program manager Anabelle Monti and Bob Larson from the Tahoe Science Advisory Council, gave their support to the threshold updates on the agenda. Keep Tahoe Blue urged TRPA to update other thresholds to keep up with advances in science, and also supported the updates to the watercraft fee schedule on the consent agenda.
Ann Nichols of the North Tahoe Preservation Alliance said she was concerned about the removal of 26 water-quality threshold standards. “Reclassifying them as performance standards or code provisions lowers their legal structure and potentially narrows the scope of compact-level protections,” she said. Doug Flaherty of the Tahoe Clean Air Coalition agreed with her comments.
Agenda and consent calendar
The appeal of the denial of the Moody Boat Ramp/Pier Conversion and Transfer Project was pulled on request of the applicant.
Brooke Laine reviewed the consent calendar and noted that on the watercraft inspection fee schedule that they included a 50% discount for vehicles that show up cleaned, drained and dried, in order to incentivize good practices.
Threshold updates
Science officer Dan Segan and staff member Mason Bindel presented on the updates to the water quality environmental thresholds and forest health and vegetation preservation thresholds, respectively.
Segan addressed public comment and said that they had proposed moving the load reduction standards to a different part of the documentation, as part of the Science Advisory Council’s recommendations. They also changed the portions where the SAC said they were not formulated as specific and measurable, and embedded the load reduction standards as part of their allocation process.
Cody Bass asked if they had any standards relating to microplastics, which Segan said were part of thresholds on fine particle loads. Segan also stated that they were refining their understanding of what elements most affect lake clarity.
Bindel spoke on the forest health and vegetation preservation updates, which have been in the works since last summer. The new standards classify fire dynamics and forest health more responsively to changes in the environment, as well as adding a standard regarding subalpine conifer forests that need protection. Bindel also highlighted the importance of cultural and prescribed burns.
Both motions passed.
Executive director report
Regan first acknowledged the storm and the avalanche near Castle Peak that killed backcountry skiers and guides this past week. “Some of our staff have been affected, knowing some of the survivors. In our region, those events have big reach,” she said.
She shared that there was support for the Santini-Burton Modernization Act, highlighting Senator Catherine Cortez-Masto’s involvement.
Regan also highlighted that the annual report was released and that the Best in the Basin nominations were open.
This was the first TRPA meeting utilizing the new agenda, which Regan hoped would be easier for people to navigate. On the next agenda, Regan said they would look at the Tahoe Keys Marina redevelopment, the Tahoe El Dorado (TED) Area Plan, appeals, board strategic planning and the vehicle miles travelled (VMT) policy.
The next governing board meeting will take place on March 25.
