Annual Tahoe Report - Good and Bad News RENO, NV (KUNR) - The good news is, the effect of the Angora fire on water quality has not been as bad as expected. 2007 was the 14th driest year on record in the Tahoe Basin, and that means there was less run off from the 3,000 acre burn scar, which helped limit harmful effects. Tahoe research scientist John Reuter says smoke and ash did marginally hurt water quality, but not in the long term.

Reuter: Most of the impact if at all occurred locally, in around the South Shore area. But within about 2 weeks after the fire, that short term impact was over.

A second important finding is that climate change continues to warm Lake Tahoe. Dr. Reuter believes lake stewards will have to answer an important question if lake clarity and biological diversity are to be maintained.

Reuter: How does water quality treatment projects how will the effectiveness of thos things be influenced by climate change?

Lake clarity improved slightly in 2007, and that's consistent with a seven year trend of improvement, but according to Dr. Reuter, the clarity measurement is made in deep water, and that this year's data shows significant clarity issues near the shore.

Reuter: We see a lot more cloudy water, algal growth, invasive species, and all kinds of things going on in the near shore area, and I think it's an important place that the public really experiences the lake from. And I think our data continues to show that this area requires attention as well.

According to this year's data, algae productivity on rocks around the shoreline was the highest on record, at five times the 1959 level.
© Copyright 2009, KUNR