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recent article C Monterey County Herald

Posted on Thu, Sep. 02, 2004
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Initiative targets Tahoe development
RENO, Nev. (AP) - State and federal officials have launched a new initiative designed to foster increased cooperation as they update blueprints for managing the Lake Tahoe Basin over the next 20 years.
''Pathway 2007'' is a cooperative endeavor by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, the U.S. Forest Service and environmental regulators from Nevada and California, who hope to coordinate long-term development and ecological strategies affecting the lake and those who live or visit there.
''We have a unique opportunity to work together to save Lake Tahoe before our chance is lost to save its blue waters,'' said TRPA spokeswoman Julie Regan.
Through the process started Tuesday, TRPA officials plan by 2007 to update the agency's 20-year regional plan for the Tahoe Basin. Officials from the Forest Services Tahoe unit are also updating a long-term forest management plan.
California's Regional Water Quality Control Board and the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, meanwhile, are preparing a strategy identifying the maximum level of pollutants that can be tolerated by Lake Tahoe. They're also looking at how to reverse a trend that has the lake losing its famed clarity at an average rate of a foot or more per year.
By preparing all the plans jointly, officials hope to maximize their effectiveness.
''The level of the impact of our human footprint is really based on a lot of large land-use decisions,'' said Harold Singer, executive officer of the California water agency. ''It is our hope the regional plans will provide the road map.''
TRPA last prepared a 20-year plan in 1984 and the controversial strategy ignited a political firestorm, leading to lawsuits filed against the two-state agency by the California attorney general and the League to Save Lake Tahoe.
A building moratorium took effect across the basin and years of settlement discussions were necessary before a regional plan was at last agreed upon in 1987.
Through extensive public involvement, TRPA hopes to avoid similar problems this time around, said John Singlaub, the agency's executive director.
''We're trying to learn from that lesson,'' Singlaub said. ''Is there a danger of still being sued in the end? Sure, these are big decisions.''
TRPA is allowing 225 new homes to be built around the Tahoe Basin in 2004 through a system that awards or penalizes local governments based on progress in key environmental goals. The new regional plan will dictate development practices around the lake for the next two decades after 2007.
The agency will also consider changes to its nine primary environmental ''thresholds,'' or targeted improvements to water and air quality, wildlife habitat, scenic protection and similar areas.
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posted by gt @ 6:31 PM