Integrating science into watershed management decisions at Lake Tahoe

The clarity of Lake Tahoe is decreasing. Early scientific water clarity data brought Lake Tahoe's water-quality problems to public attention in the 1970s. However, there has been a dearth of scientific research on pollution sources until recently. In 1997, President Clinton and Vice President Gore held public forums to focus national attention on Lake Tahoe. Since the presidential forums, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency has received increased assistance from the US Environmental Protection Agency, the US Forest Service, and other federal agencies to forge a more effective link between scientific research and policy making in the Tahoe Basin. Two research symposia have been held in the past year to facilitate collaboration between researchers and policy makers in order to improve the environmental and economic health of the Lake Tahoe Basin. Although progress is being made, the difficulties of inter-agency and inter-university collaboration are considerable.