SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) -- Lake Tahoe isn't the brilliant blue it once was, but new measurements of sediment pouring into the lake suggest it may be on its way to regaining the famous clarity that legend says lies behind its name in the Washoe language.
Restrictions on land use, and control of erosion over the last seven years have made the lake less murky, said Geoff Schladow, a scientist at the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center.
“The management in the last few years seems like it may well be having a positive effect on lake clarity,” he said. But he stopped short of saying Tahoe’s clarity was returning, instead preferring the more cautious assessment of “less murky.”
If the amount of sediment continues to slow at its current rate, Schladow said the lake could even start clearing by 2010.
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KCBS's Doug Sovern reports
