KINGS BEACH, Calif. – The Placer County Board of Supervisors’ two-day stop at the North Tahoe Events Center started with a special meeting on Monday afternoon, Sept. 22, which covered updates directly related to Tahoe. A regularly scheduled meeting is taking place on Tuesday.

State of the Lake presentation

The board received a presentation on the State of the Lake, an annual report produced by the Tahoe Environmental Research Center.

“Here, we know water is a jaw-dropping place,” Stephanie Hampton said, center director, who provided the presentation.

The report synthesizes research, findings and evaluations done throughout the year and adds the annual report to a long record of research that TERC has amassed since the 1950s. This year’s report reveals that the clarity declines between the 1960s and 1990s have leveled off, but clarity has not improved. It also highlights seasonal changes in clarity, showing that winter clarity has stabilized and slightly improved, while summer clarity continues to decline.

Hampton discussed the report’s findings of increased minimum air temperature spelling more rain and less snow. The rising temperatures are also impacting lake water temperatures and could have implications for the lake’s mixing.

The report suggests targeted research on ecological and climate driven changes, as well as other factors that could be influencing clarity. For a deeper dive on the report, read the article titled, Tahoe State of the Lake Report released for 2024.

Update on Environmental Stewardship Initiatives in Eastern Placer County

The board heard updates to environmental stewardship initiatives in Eastern Placer County.

“One of the components that I find fascinating about this work is nothing, as we know, happens in a silo,” Ryan Murray, county management analyst, said, who presented to the board. “Even though it may be an environmental initiative or can be categorized as environmental, all these initiatives have other downstream or upstream effects, whether that’s economic vibrancy or community public health or mobility, both for able or disabled residents.” Murray expressed a bottom up approach in engaging with the local community on program development.

Certain environmental stewardship initiatives have already resulted in programs, including the Parking Management Program, which launched last summer, and a bear bin compliance program. Funding has also assisted Clean Tahoe, a regional non-profit that tackles waste and waste removal issues by cleaning up animal trash messes and illegal dumps.

Other initiatives in process include devising dark sky lighting provisions, seeking funding opportunities for electric vehicle charging stations, and rebooting a bikeshare program that was derailed by the pandemic.

The culmination of initiatives come from public input on county and partner plans and programs, including the Placer County Sustainability Plan, Placer County Conservation Program, and Resort Triangle Transportation Plan. Basin-wide programs and plans have also sparked eastern Placer initiatives, such as the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency’s Regional Transportation Plan and the Lake Tahoe Destination Stewardship Plan.

One initiative that held particular focus at the meeting was the reduction of single-use plastics and polystyrene (often referred to as styrofoam packaging) waste. County staff have been exploring how neighboring jurisdictions, such as the Town of Truckee and City of South Lake Tahoe, have implemented ordinances banning these items.

Cindy Gustafson highlighted the importance of making a potential plastic water bottle ban in Placer County consistent with other jurisdictions, but expressed sensitivity to small business impacts.

Supervisor Bonnie Gore also expressed concern over the impacts a ban on single-use plastic water bottles could have to small mom-and-pop shops and urged staff to listen to businesses.

Marilee Movius, Sustainable Recreation Manager with the League to Save Lake Tahoe, expressed support for an ordinance limiting single-use plastics and reported on the preliminary outreach the organization has done in the county. Of 43 small businesses, six businesses were unsure or said no to a polystyrene ban and 10 businesses said no or were unsure about plastic bottles. Movius also reported that many businesses were already choosing to sell aluminum water bottles and aren’t using styrofoam.

Tourism Business Improvement District 2025 Annual Report

North Tahoe Community Alliance president and CEO, Tony Karwowski, provided the board with the alliance’s annual report. Since its establishment in 2021, the alliance has invested $34.2 million (around $11 million a year) of Transient Occupancy Tax and Tourism Business Improvement District dollars to projects and programs in the North Tahoe Community through the TOT-TBID Dollars at Work Program. Matching funds have bolstered the program’s total to $76.5 million in areas of workforce housing, transportation, environmental stewardship and human impact mitigation, trails and community enhancement. There were no changes to boundaries or zones of the improvement district in this year’s report.

Karwowski reported the alliance works as a stewardship organization 80% of the time, educating visitors on reducing their footprint, sustainable transportation, and other stewardship reminders. The other 20% of the time, the alliance works to attract visitors, usually during shoulder season.

The tourism business improvement district is currently undergoing renewal, capturing signatures for the renewal plan. Renewal requires a majority of weighted revenue business signatures in order to bring a renewal petition forward to the board. The alliance expects to bring a renewal proposal to the board in October.

The Board of Supervisors convenes on Tuesday for their regularly scheduled meeting at 9 a.m.