In the News

How Do Tahoe Residents Feel About Efforts to Save Lake Tahoe?
date posted: April 6 2004

By John Cobourn, Water Resource Specialist; and Heather Segale, Environmental Education Coordinator; University of Nevada Cooperative Extension

The Lake Tahoe Environmental Education Coalition (LTEEC) has been working for four years to improve public education about environmental issues in the Tahoe Basin. Like other educational organizations, we need to know our audience. A number of surveys have been conducted to gauge citizens’ knowledge and attitudes about efforts to protect the lake.

The Parasol Foundation of Incline Village conducted a survey in 2000. They received responses from about 700 residents on the north shore of Lake Tahoe. The survey dealt with community issues, such as environment, social services, education and culture. Out of the many diverse issues covered in the survey, “increasing air and water quality protection efforts” was rated the most important by the greatest percentage of residents. An overwhelming 72.3 percent of residents said it was “very important” to increase efforts to protect air and water quality. Another 16.7 percent rated it as “moderately important.”

The survey responses also showed that support for air and water quality protection efforts was consistently high across all communities and demographics included in the study. Full-time residents and part-time residents showed equally high support for air and water quality protection.

After protection of air and water quality, “increasing other environmental protection efforts” was in a virtual tie with “increasing the quality of public school education” as the second most important issue to residents, based on the percentage of residents ranking these issues as “moderately important” or “very important.” Sixty-six percent of residents said it was “very important” to increase environmental protection efforts. Another 18.7 percent rated it as “moderately important.”

Paul Sabatier and others at UC Davis conducted a survey in 2001. It measured stakeholder beliefs about environmental policy at Tahoe and targeted knowledgeable professionals in various governmental agencies, businesses and environmental groups. The 365 respondents rated “degradation of the quality of Lake Tahoe water” as the most severe problem in the basin, closely followed by “traffic congestion” and “fire risk.”

It has been known for years that most residents agree with the goal of protecting Tahoe’s environment. In 1997, faculty of University of Nevada Cooperative Extension conducted a survey to find out how much local residents knew about how to reduce water pollution. Four hundred people responded. At that time, 45.5 percent of respondents were “very interested” and 36.3 percent were “somewhat interested” in learning more about ways to help protect water quality at Lake Tahoe. However, only 31 percent of respondents knew that best management practices (BMPs) are defined as recommended practices to improve water quality.

Therefore, polls show that a great majority of people want to protect Tahoe’s environment, but less people know what they actually can do to help.

One way to help the lake is for all property owners to install and maintain effective BMPs to reduce polluted runoff. Nevada’s Tahoe residents can schedule a free BMP site evaluation by calling the Nevada Tahoe Conservation District, (775) 586-7223, Ext. 1. California’s Tahoe residents can call the Tahoe Resource Conservation District, (530) 543-1501, Ext. 6.

In the end, the fate of Lake Tahoe is in our hands. The community strongly supports the goal of restoring the lake’s water quality. Many people are realizing that owning property at Tahoe is a privilege, and they want to take personal responsibility for protecting the environment. That is the starting point for good resource stewardship, which can put our goal for saving the lake within reach.

Watch for “The Lake Tahoe Report” in the North Lake Bonanza each Friday, and tune in to KOLO-TV News Channel 8 Tuesdays at 5 p.m. to learn more. Next week, learn about the “Pathway 2007” planning efforts currently underway. “The Lake Tahoe Report” is a collaborative effort of the Lake Tahoe Environmental Education Coalition, University of Nevada Cooperative Extension, UC Davis and the USDA Forest Service. For more information, contact Heather Segale, University of Nevada Cooperative Extension, (775) 832-4138, or logon to www.lteec.org or www.unce.unr.edu.